Purpose: Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the current global concern. Radiotherapy (RT), commonly employed in cancer management, has been considered one of the potential treatments for COVID-19 pneumonia. Here, we present the final report of the pilot trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of low-dose whole-lung irradiation (LD-WLI) in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods and Materials: We enrolled patients with moderate COVID-19 pneumonia who were older than 60 years. Participants were treated with LD-WLI in a single fraction of 0.5 or 1.0Gy along with the national protocol of COVID-19. The primary endpoints were improvement of SpO₂, the number of hospital/ICU stay days, and the number of intubations after RT and the secondary endpoints were alterations of the c-reactive peptide, interleukin-6, ferritin, procalcitonin, and D-dimer. The response rate (RR) was defined as a rise in SpO₂ upon RT with rising or constant trend in the next two days, and clinical recovery (CR) included patients who were discharged from the hospital or acquired SpO₂ ≥93% on room air. Results: Between 21 May 2020 and 2 July 2020, ten patients were enrolled. The median age was 75 years, 80% were male, and 80% had comorbidities. The first five patients received a single 0.5Gy-WLI, and others received 1.0Gy. Patients were followed for 2-14 days (median 5.5 days). Following one day, nine patients experienced an improvement in SpO₂. Five patients were discharged (median 6^th day, range 2^nd-14^th day), and four patients died (median 7^th day, range 3^rd-10^th day). Overall, the RR and CR were 60.0% and 55.5%, respectively. The RR and CR rates of 0.5- and 1.0Gy group were 80% vs 40% and 75% vs 40%, respectively. No acute radiation-induced toxicity was recorded. Conclusions: LD-WLI with a single 0.5Gy fraction seems to be a more appropriate dose to warrant further evaluation in a large-scale, randomized trial.

Older adults with obesity have an increased risk for cognitive decline and subsequent Alzheimer’s disease. Previous research has focused on the impact of individual nutrients and overall dietary patterns to improve cognitive function. The Brain and Body Health (BB-Health) study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a multicomponent nutritional supplement (MCNS) and weight loss (WL) intervention for individuals with overweight and obesity who are not consuming a healthy diet. BB-Health is a parallel-group randomized placebo-controlled 2x2 factorial pilot trial comparing the MCNS, WL, and MCNS+WL with a Control group. Eligible participants are 55 to 85 years of age with a body mass index 27.0 to 39.9 kg/m2. Major exclusion criteria include type 2 diabetes, moderate or severe cognitive impairment, and self-reported healthy dietary pattern. The BB-Health feasibility trial is registered as NCT05542199 at clinicaltrials.gov. The BB-Health objectives are to report: 1) recruitment and enrollment, including pace and descriptive statistics of the study sample; 2) adherence to the administered interventions; 3) successful data collection and performance of outcome assessments, including evaluation of change in key outcomes over time that are powered for this pilot study; and 4) summary statistics on outcomes for use in planning a subsequent, larger trial. The outcomes of interest are age-sensitive cognitive assessments, cerebral hemodynamics, and related health parameters. All measurements are collected at baseline, 3-, 6-, and 12-month visits. If the BB-Health protocol demonstrates feasibility, the novel MCNS with and without a parallel WL intervention has potential to be administered in a confirmatory randomized trial to evaluate ability to prevent age-related cognitive decline and improve brain health. The BB-Health Feasibility Study could significantly contribute to our understanding of the influence of diet and weight management on cognitive health

Introduction: The term 3D printing is commonly used to depict an assembling method whereby the final form of an object is the result of the addition of different layers to build the frame of an object. This procedure is more accurately portrayed as additive manufacturing and is likewise alluded to as fast prototyping. The term 3D printing, in any case, is generally new and has been an active part of current developments in Dentistry. Much publicity encompasses the evolution of 3D printing, which is hailed as an innovation that will perpetually change CAM manufacturing, including in the dental sector. This review is the first part in a 3D Printing series that looks at the history of 3D Printing, the technologies available and reviews the literature relating to the accuracy of these technologies. Conclusions: The recent advancement in digital dentistry to incorporate these tools has modernised dental practices by paving the way for computer-aided design (CAD) technology and rapid prototyping. The use of 3D printing has led to 3D digital models produced with intraoral scanners (IOS), which can be manipulated easily for diagnosis, treatment planning, mockups, and a multitude of other uses. Combining 3D Printing with a 3D intraoral scan eliminates the need for physical storage but makes it to retrieve a 3D models for use within all dental modalities.

This study focuses on enhancing controllable fibrin-based hydrogels for tissue engineering, addressing existing weaknesses. By integrating a novel copolymer, we improve the foundation for cell-based angiogenesis with adaptable structural features. Tissue engineering often faces challenges like waste disposal and nutrient supply beyond the 200 µm diffusion limit. Angiogenesis breaks through this limitation, allowing the construction of larger constructs. Our innovative scaffold combination significantly boosts angiogenesis, resulting in longer branches and more capillary network junctions. The copolymer attached to fibrin fibers enables precise adjustment of hydrogel mechanical-dynamic properties for specific applications. Our material proves effective for angiogenesis, even under suppression factors like suramin. In our study, we prepared fibrin-based hydrogels with and without the copolymer PVP12400-co-GMA10mol%. Using a co-culture system of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), we analyzed angiogenetic behavior on and within the modified hydrogels. Capillary-like structures were reproducibly formed on different surfaces, demonstrating the general feasibility of three-dimensional endothelial cell networks in fibrin-based hydrogels. This highlights the biomaterial's suitability for in vitro pre-vascularization of biohybrid implants.

Viral infections cause metabolic dysregulation in the infected organism. The present study used metabolomics techniques and machine learning algorithms to retrospectively analyze the alter-ations of a broad panel of metabolites in the serum and urine of a cohort of 126 patients hospi-talized with COVID-19. Results were compared with those of 50 healthy subjects and 45 COVID-19 negative patients but with bacterial infectious diseases. Metabolites were analyzed by gas chro-matography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The main metabolites al-tered in the sera of COVID-19 patients were those of pentose glucuronate interconversion, ascorbate and fructose metabolism, nucleotide sugars, and nucleotide and amino acid metabolism. Alterations in serum maltose, mannonic acid, xylitol, or glyceric acid metabolites segregated positive patients from the control group with high diagnostic accuracy, while succinic acid seg-regated positive patients from those with other disparate infectious diseases. Increased lauric acid concentrations were associated with severity of infection and death. Urine analyses could not discriminate between groups. Targeted metabolomics and machine learning algorithms facilitated the exploration of the metabolic alterations underlying COVID-19 infection, and to identify po-tential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease.

In an age of market liberalization, globalization, and expanding agribusiness, there is a danger that small-scale farmers will find difficulty in fully participating in the market economy. One of the solutions to solve the above situation is to strengthen linkages between farmers and firms through contract farming. The purpose of this study is to assess the factors affecting the level of linkages between businesses and farmers in crop development in Thai Binh province, Vietnam. The two main research methods used were exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and regression analysis with survey data which was conducted from 300 farmers, 10 firms, and 15 factors related to contract-farming. The results indicated that there are 5 factors that significantly affect the level of participation of farmers in the linking process, the order of impacts from strong to weak is as follows: (1) Commitment and sharing of benefits and risks between farmers and firms in the linking process, (2) Issues related to management skills and enterprises capacity of link firms, (3) Price issues that farmers are interested in in the process of implementing links with firms, (4) Policy environment - Institutions related to farmer contracts between firms and farmers, (5) Household awareness about the benefits brought about by farmer contracts with firms. Based on results, a number of specific solutions have been proposed to enhance the efficiency of farming contracts between firms and farmers in cultivation production.

The abundant use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in a wide variety of electric devices and vehicles will generate a large number of depleted batteries, which contain several valuable metals such as Li, Co, Mn, and Ni present in the structure of the cathode material (LiMO2). The present work investigates chemical, technological, and environmental aspects in the treatment of such wastes, development of a methodology for the extraction of lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite by a carbochlorination pyrometallurgical process. Mixtures of cathode and anode materials (called black mass, mixed oxides of Li, Co, Ni, Mn, and graphite) from different LIBs, carbon black (as reducing agent), and CaCl2 (as chlorinating agent) were used. Non-isothermal thermogravimetric tests up to 850°C and isothermal tests at 700°C of the mixtures in an inert atmosphere were carried out. It was experimentally observed that the LiMO2-C-CaCl2 reaction takes place at 700°C. LiCl, Ni, and Co were obtained as final products, and to a lesser extent, CoO, NiO, and MnO2. CaCO3 was also obtained as a by-product. The obtained results show that carbochlorination is an efficient and effective alternative route for the extraction and recovery of metals from different LIBs, focused on the sustainability and circular economy

histology, the processing and staining of cells, tissues and organs to highlight contrast, visualize and analyze their microstructure under microscopy, encompasses a vast array of techniques used to confirm, refine, or refute the macroscopic findings in forensic investigations, for example in the case of autopsies. This review presents several applications of histological protocols, staining methods and techniques to case studies, with the aim of illustrating the established, current and potential applications of histological investigations to forensic sciences. The list of disciplines include anthropology, cytology, dendrochronology, diatomology, entomology, fiber analysis, palynology,human and veterinary pathology, taphonomy and thanatology.

Breast cancer represents the most common neoplasm worldwide. Viral infections are involved with carcinogenesis, especially those caused by oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes. The relationship between HPV and various types of cancer, such as breast and lung, still requires further studies. After infection with HPV, there is a remodeling of the tumor microenvironment, providing a post-infection alteration with immunosuppressive characteristics. This study evaluated the role of HPV in breast adenocarcinoma cell lineage (MDA-MB-231), transfected with the HPV16 E5, E6, and E7 oncogenes and co-cultured with PBMCs. Immunophenotyping was performed. There was an increase in CD4+ T cells number when compared with non-transfected and transfected MDA-MB-231, especially the Treg profile. Moreover, proinflammatory intracellular cytokines, such as IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-17 were impaired by transfected cells and a decrease in the cytolytic ac-tivity of the CD8+ and CD56+ lymphocytes was also observed in the presence of HPV oncogenes, mainly with E6 and E7 in NK and TCD8+ cells. In conclusion, MDA-MB-231 breast cell lineage transfected with HPV oncogenes can downregulate the number and function of lymphocytes and monocytes.

This research aims to examine the level of readiness of the community to carry out sustainable tourism development, especially community-based tourism on small islands, such as Lombok Island, Indonesia. More specifically, the objectives of this study are as follows: (1) Knowing the level of community readiness in carrying out sustainable tourism development. (2) Knowing the various dimensions that influence sustainable tourism development. (3) Knowing the role of stakeholders in sustainable tourism development. The method applied in this research is mixed methods, a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative methods are used to determine community readiness for sustainable tourism development. A qualitative approach is used to determine the various factors that influence the development of community-based tourism and to determine the role of stakeholders in the development of community-based tourism. The level of community readiness for sustainable tourism development is high in terms of economic, social, cultural, environmental, and symbolic capital aspects. Aspects that influence the development of sustainable tourism are economic, social, and cultural. Stakeholders who play a role in developing sustainable tourism in the research area are the government, the private sector, universities, non-governmental organizations, and the media.

Background: Hypertension is a condition of a person's blood pressure being at a level above normal, hypertension treatment can be done herbally using avocado leaves. Avocado leaves can lower blood pressure because they contain active substances, namely flavonoids and quercetin. This research was conducted in the working area of the Tilango Health Center. Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of giving boiled water of avocado leaves on reducing blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension. Methods: Design This study used a two-group quasi-experimental pre-test - post-test design. The sample is the elderly who have hypertension, amounting to 125 people with purposive sampling technique. The research instrument used a questionnaire. Results: Statistical test using T-Test on blood pressure before and after the intervention was given a significance value of 0.000 (p-value < 0.05 ). Conclusion : This study concludes that there is a significant effect between giving avocado leaf boiled water on reducing blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension in the working area of the Tilango Health Center.

The transformation of the state of polarization of a light beam by its linear interaction with a material medium can be modeled through the Stokes-Mueller formalism. The Mueller matrix associated with a given interaction depends on many aspects of the measurement configuration. In particular, different Mueller matrices can be measured for a fixed material sample depending on the spectral profile of the light probe. For a given light probe and a given sample with inhomogeneous spatial behavior, the polarimetric descriptors of the point-to-point Mueller matrices can be mapped leading to respective polarimetric images. The procedure can be repeated sequentially by using light probes with different central frequencies. In addition, the point-to-point Mueller matrices consecutively measured can be combined synthetically through convex sums leading to respective new Mueller matrices, in general with increased polarimetric randomness, thus exhibiting specific values for the associated polarimetric descriptors, including the indices of polarimetric purity, and generating new polarimetric images which are different from those obtained from the original Mueller matrices. In this work, the fundamentals for such synthetic generation of additional polarimetric images are described, providing a new tool that enhances the exploitation of Mueller polarimetry.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) are highly heterogeneous in virulence; we wanted to understand the pathogenic potential of EAEC isolated various clinical and non-clinical sources in an animal model. We infected male BALB/c mice in six mice/group with 50 EAEC isolates, isolated from clinical and non-clinical sources. We studied colonization, weight loss, stool shedding, inflammatory markers and its relationship with 21 virulence genes and phylogroups, EAEC organ burden and histopathological changes. We detected significantly more inflammatory changes and fecal lactoferrin and calprotectin levels in mice infected with EAEC isolated from symptomatic cases. In clinical EAEC isolates, the presence of chromosomal genes {(aap (46%), aaiC (23.3%), and SPATEs (pet (13.3%), sat (20%), sigA and pic (6.6%)}, adhesive variants {(agg4A (53.3%), aggA (53.3%), aafA (36.6%), agg3A (40%)} of EAEC, and master regulator gene aggR (66.6%) were associated with higher levels of lactoferrin and calprotectin. Also, 70% (9/13) of EAEC isolated from acute diarrheal cases bearing chuA (70%) in our study were assigned to group B2 (4 isolates) and D (5 isolates). Real-time PCR analysis revealed that colonization by EAEC strains from different clinical and non-clinical sources occurs up to 10-15 days of life. Even from non-diarrhoeal stools and non-clinical sources, had the potential to cause prolonged colonization, weight loss, and inflammation in the intestine though the degree varied. Moreover, better understanding of EAEC pathogenic pathways is desperately needed in different clinical scenarios.

The result of the multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers from different areas of knowledge to validate a solar radiation model is presented. The MAPsol is a 3D local-scale adaptive solar radiation model that allows to estimate direct, diffuse and reflected irradiance for clear sky conditions. The model includes the adaptation of the mesh to complex orography and albedo, and considers the shadows cast by the terrain and buildings. The surface mesh generation is based on surface refinement, smoothing and parameterisation techniques and allows the generation of high quality adapted meshes with a reasonable number of elements. Another key aspect of the paper is the generation of a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM). This high-resolution DEM is constructed from LiDAR data and its resolution if two times more accurate than the publicly available DEMs. The validation process uses direct and global solar irradiance data obtained from pyranometers at the University of Salamanca located in an urban area affected by systematic shading from nearby buildings. This work provides an efficient protocol for studying solar resources, with particular emphasis on areas of complex orography and dense buildings where shadows can potentially make solar energy production facilities less efficient.

The aim of study was to investigate epidemiology aspects of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during COVID-19 pandemic. The study comprised depersonalized residents of Tomsk and Tomsk Region (n = 1714). Invitations to take online survey were sent to 50,000 residents by target SMS with response rate of 1.2% (n = 727, Cohort 1). Cohort 2 comprised retrospective patients (n = 987) who underwent contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI (CMR) in 2019-2022. Referrals, clinical characteristics, diagnosis, gender, age, past COVID-19, MRI study protocols, and MRI data were analyzed. 29% of respondents in cohort 1 received MRI examination within past two years; 26% of respondents considered MRI the most informative imaging modality for detecting COVID-19 pneumonia; 12% of respondents reported MRI unavailable. Proportion of CMR among MRI studies increased during COVID-19 pandemic, and maximum incidence of cardiac diseases detected by MRI was in 2021. Incidence of myocardial fibrosis increased from ~67% in 2019 to ~84% in 2022. The rate of outpatient MRI studies significantly increased in 2020, but returned to pre-pandemic level in 2021. COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for MRI and CMR. Patients with history of COVID-19 had persistent and newly occurring symptoms of myocardial damage suggesting chronic cardiac involvement requiring continuous follow-up.

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the application of individual and ensemble machine learning models to classify malignant and benign breast masses using features from two-dimensional (2D) correlated spectroscopy spectra extracted from five-dimensional Echo Planar-Correlated Spectroscopic Imaging (5D EP-COSI) and Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Twenty-four different metabolite and lipid ratios with respect to 2D diagonal peaks at 1.4ppm and 5.4ppm, and water from one-dimensional non-water-suppressed (NWS) spectra were used as the features. Additionally, water fraction, fat fraction and water-to-fat ratios from NWS spectra and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) from DWI were included. Nine most important features were identified using recursive feature elimination. XGBoost (AUC:93.0%, Accuracy:85.7%, F1-score:87.6%), GradientBoost (AUC:94.4%, Accuracy:87.0%, F1-score:89.4%), CatBoost (AUC:95.2%, Accuracy:86.9%, F1-score:88.4%) and RandomForest (AUC:92.2%, Accuracy:85.3%, F1-score:87.6%) were the best performing models. While the conventional biomarkers like choline, myo-Inositol, and glycine were statistically significant predictors, the key features contributing to the classification were ADC, 2D diagonal peaks at 0.9ppm, 2.1ppm and 2.3ppm, cross peaks between 1.4 and 0.9ppm, 4.3 and 4.1ppm, 2.1 and 1.4ppm and the triglyceryl-fat cross peak. The results highlight the contribution of the 2D spectral peaks to the model, and they demonstrate the potential of 5D EP-COSI for early breast cancer detection.

Many clinical research datasets have a large percentage of missing values that directly impacts their usefulness in yielding high accuracy classifiers when used for training in supervised machine learning. While missing value imputation methods have been shown to work well with smaller percentages of missing values, their ability to impute sparse clinical research data can be problem specific. We previously attempted to learn quantitative guidelines for ordering cardiac magnetic resonance imaging during the evaluation for pediatric cardiomyopathy, but missing data significantly reduced our usable sample size. In this work, we sought to determine if increasing the usable sample size through imputation would allow us to learn better guidelines. We first review several machine learning methods for estimating missing data. Then, we apply four popular methods (mean imputation, decision tree, k-nearest neighbors, and self-organizing maps) to a clinical research dataset of pediatric patients undergoing evaluation for cardiomyopathy. Using Bayesian Rule Learning (BRL) to learn ruleset models, we compared the performance of imputation-augmented models versus unaugmented models. We found that all four imputation-augmented models performed similarly to unaugmented models. While imputation did not improve performance, it did provide evidence for the robustness of our learned models.

Although global life expectancy has increased over the past 20 years due to improvements in managing infectious diseases, one in five people still succumbs to infections. Humanity is tirelessly working towards developing vaccines and antimicrobial agents in response to this ongoing threat. However, pathogens continue to acquire numerous resistance mechanisms and proliferate. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted us to recognize that focusing solely on the killing strategies of immunology and microbiology in complex and multisystemic infectious diseases is insufficient for understanding survival. In essence, there is a need for a treatment approach centered on disease tolerance, capable of alleviating pathology and/or promoting physiological functions in conjunction with the existing strategies of host immune response and pathogen destruction. Against this backdrop, this narrative review comprehends and introduces microbiome therapeutics, which recently garnered attention as next-generation treatments regarding two defense strategies against infectious diseases. First, we delineate the application of existing probiotics and then the microbiome in infectious diseases. Subsequently, we expand this concept to encompass host microbiome crosstalk and present related microbiome therapeutics' current status and direction. Ultimately, the review presents a fresh perspective on understanding microbiome therapeutics in infectious diseases based on a cooperative defense system.

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are highly prevalent in CKD affecting over 80% of hemodialysis (HD) patients and require therapeutic intervention. Nephrological societies suggest the administration of cholecalciferol according to the guidelines for the general population. The aim of the observational study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the therapy with a high dose of cholecalciferol in HD patients with 25(OH)D deficiency and insufficiency to reach the target serum 25(OH)D level &gt; 30 ng/mL. 22 patients (16 M), with an average age of 72.5 ± 13.03 years and 25(OH)D concentration of 13.05 (9.00–17.90) ng/mL were administered cholecalciferol at a therapeutic dose of 70,000 IU/week (20,000 IU + 20,000 IU + 30,000 IU, immediately after each dialysis session). All patients achieved the target value &gt;30 ng/mL, with a mean time of 2.86 ± 1.87 weeks. In the first week, the target level of 25(OH)D (100%) was reached by 2 patients (9.09%), in the second week – by 15 patients (68.18%), in the fourth week – by 18 patients (81.18%) and in the ninth week by all 22 patients (100%). A significant increase in 1,25(OH)2D levels was observed during the study, however, only 2 patients (9.09%) achieved a concentration of 1,25(OH)2D above 25 ng/mL – the lower limit of the reference range. The intact PTH concentrations remained unchanged during the observation period. No episodes of hypercalcemia, and one new episode of hyperphosphatemia were observed. In conclusion, our study showed that the administration of a high therapeutic dose of cholecalciferol allowed for a quick, effective, and safe leveling of 25(OH)D concentration in HD patients.

The sustainable management of Land - Water - Energy - Food (LWEF) nexus requires an envi-ronmental characterization that allows the comparison of complex interlinkages between nexus resources and livelihoods. This complexity makes this characterization difficult coupled with limited study in quantifying sustainability of LWEF nexus and its linkage with livelihood. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the link between sustainable LWEF nexus and livelihoods. We used analytical hierarchy process and pairwise comparison matrix in combina-tion with weighting model. The result of composite LWEF nexus index was 0.083 representing, low sustainability. This could be linked with nexus resources consumption, use, and manage-ment. From the analysis of the weight of land, water, energy and food nexus resources, the highest weight was observed for food. The focus of on food production only shows no clear synergy on provisioning, supporting or regulating nexus resources to address livelihoods. The result further showed that LWEF nexus resources have strong correlation with livelihoods. This was evidenced by social (r>0.8, P<0.01), natural (r>0.3, P<0.05) and physical (r>0.6, P<0.01) liveli-hood indicators showed strong positive correlation with LWEF nexus resources. From this re-sults, it was observed that managing nexus resources not only provide a significant contribution to achieve sustainable LWEF nexus, but also be effective for enhancing livelihood through food security. This could be attained by strong evidence based policy to ensure sustainable use of nexus resources. The results provided by this study would serve as the foundation for future study, policy formulation and implementation.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has become a key modality in medical imaging, finding application in both brain and breast imaging. This paper discusses the current trends in NIRS for brain and breast imaging, exploring advances in multi-modal integration with modalities such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). Challenges related to spatial resolution, depth sensitivity, and the impact of extracerebral tissues on signal specificity are examined. In addition, ongoing efforts to enhance hemodynamic measurements’ quantitative accuracy. Challenges, including limited spatial resolution and tissue heterogeneity, are discussed. The discussion extends to diffuse optical tomography and ongoing instrumentation development, clinical trials and studies validating NIRS diagnostic efficacy in breast imaging. The paper emphasizes the need for standardization, integration into routine clinical practice, and motivates for future work.

Abstract Background Fatigue Syndrome (FS) is described as extreme exhaustion following ordinary activities. Sleep deprivation, the use of antidepressants, autoimmune illnesses, and anemia are also risk factors for FS. Symptoms of FS include headache, dizziness, and dyspnea, among others. Objective: This study focused on assessing the prevalence of fatigue syndrome (FS) and its association with depression and anxiety, among the medical students in Saudi Arabia. Methodology In this cross-sectional investigation conducted in 2023, 740 medical students participated. Data were gathered using an online survey, which encompassed four key sections: Sociodemographic details, the 11-item Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (CFQ), the 9-item Primary Health Questionnaire (PHQ) assessing depression, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. Analyses were performed by the use of SPSS version 25. Results A total of 740 students were surveyed, 417 (56.4%) satisfied the diagnostic requirements for fatigue syndrome (FS), with most of them being females. Furthermore, 234 (31.2%) and 296 (40.8%) of the participants reported having significant anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms, respectively. FS was positively correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression (P

Aim: To analyze a single center's experience with Short Bowel Syndrome/ Chronic Intestinal Failure (SBS/CIF) in adult patients treated with Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN). Materials and methods: In the last thirty years, 13 patients with SBS/CIF were included in an HPN program. Results: Between 1992 and 2023, 13 patients were included in an HPN program. The primary underlying pathology was acute mesenteric ischemia. The median age of the starting HPN was 44 years old. Most are submitted to several surgeries of extensive intestinal resection with posterior intestinal reconstruction. Five of the 13 patients have died while on HPN for a median of 42 months. The causes of death HPN-related were catheter sepsis, endocarditis with cardiac failure, or hepatic failure. One patient died due to underlying pathology: pelvic abscesses and bleeding related to radiotherapy. Eight patients remain alive with a median time of HPN of 173 months. During the HPN support, the most frequent complications were venous catheter infection and venous territory thrombosis. None of the eight patients alive have hepatic failure. Two patients recently started teduglutide, with good tolerance, and need reduction of HPN support. All these eight patients have a satisfactory quality of life (parenteral support needs range between five to two nutrition bags per week). Conclusion: HPN remains the gold standard of SBS/CIF treatment, although Teduglutide may reduce HPN needs and HPN complications and provide a better quality of life. An HPN multidisciplinary healthcare group support is essential to ensure these patients' survival and quality of life. Keywords Short bowel Syndrome, Chronic Intestinal failure, Home Parenteral Nutrition, Teduglutide, Complications of Parenteral Support.

We compared two approaches to non-invasive proximal sensing of the early changes in fresh-cut lettuce leaf quality: hyperspectral imaging and imaging PAM-fluorometry of chlorophyll contained in the leaves. The assessments made by the imaging techniques were confronted with the quality assessments made by traditional biochemical assays: relative water content and foliar pigment (chlorophyll and carotenoid) composition. The hyperspectral imaging-based approach provided the highest sensitivity to the decline of fresh-cut lettuce leaf quality taking place within 24 h from cutting. Using of the imaging PAM was complicated by (i) weak correlation of the spatial distribution pattern of the Qy parameter with the actual physiological condition of the plant object and (ii) its high degree of heterogeneity. Accordingly, the imaging PAM-based approach was sensitive only to the manifestations of leaf quality degradation only at advanced stages of the process. Sealing the leaves in the polyethylene bags slowed down the leaf quality degradation at the initial stages (&lt; 3 days) but promoted its rate at more advanced stages, likely due to build-up of ethylene in the bags. An approach was developed to the processing of hyperspectral data for non-invasive monitoring of the lettuce leaves with a potential for implementation in greenhouses and packinghouses.

The objective of this work is to evaluate the potential effect of cardiac stress exercise on the accumulation of [¹²³I]IAZA, a radiopharmaceutical used to image focal tissue hypoxia, in otherwise normal myocardium in healthy volunteers, and to determine the impact of exercise on [¹²³I]IAZA pharmacokinetics. The underlying goal is to establish a rational basis and a baseline for studies of focal myocardial hypoxia in cardiac patients using [¹²³I]IAZA. Three healthy male volunteers ran the ‘Bruce’ treadmill protocol, a clinically-accepted protocol designed to expose myocardial ischemia in patients. The ‘Bruce’ criterion heart rate is 85% of [220 – age]. Approximately one minute before reaching this level, [¹²³I]IAZA (5.0 mCi/0.85 mg) was administered as a slow (1–3 min) single intravenous (i.v.) injection via an indwelling venous catheter. The volunteer continued running for an additional 1 min before being transferred to a gamma camera. Serum samples were collected from the arm contralateral to the administration site at pre-determined intervals from 1 min to 45 h post injection and were analyzed by radio HPLC. Pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters were derived for [¹²³I]IAZA and total radioactivity (total[¹²³I]) using compartmental and noncompartmental analyses. Whole-body planar scintigraphic images were acquired from 0.75 to 24 h after dosing. PK data and scintigraphic images were compared to previously published [¹²³I]IAZA data from healthy volunteers rest. Following exercise stress, both [¹²³I]IAZA and total[¹²³I] exhibited bi-exponential decline profiles, with rapid distribution phases [half-lives (t_1/2α) of 1.2 and 1.4 min, respectively], followed by slower elimination phases [t_1/2β of 195 and 290 min, respectively]. Total body clearance (CL_TB) and the steady state volume of distribution (V_ss) were 0.647 L/kg and 185 mL/min, respectively, for [¹²³I]IAZA and 0.785 L/kg and 135 mL/min, respectively, for total[¹²³I]. The t_1/2β, CL_TB and V_ss values were comparable to those reported previously for rested volunteers. The t_1/2α was approximately 4-fold shorter for [¹²³I]IAZA and approximately 3-fold shorter for total[¹²³I] under exercise relative to rested subjects. The heart region was visualized in early whole body scintigraphic images, but later images showed no accumulated radioactivity in this region, and no differences from images reported for rested volunteers were apparent. Minimal uptake of radiotracer in myocardium and skeletal muscle was consistent with uptake in non-stressed myocardium. Whole-body scintigrams for [¹²³I]IAZA in exercise-stressed healthy volunteers were indistinguishable from images of non-exercised volunteers. There was no evidence of hypoxia-dependent binding in exercised but otherwise healthy myocardium, supporting the conclusion that exercise stress at Bruce protocol intensity does not induce measurable myocardial hypoxia. Effects of exercise on PK parameters were minimal; specifically, the t_1/2α was shortened, reflecting increased cardiac output associated with exercise. It is concluded that because [¹²³I]IAZA was not metabolically bound in exercise-stressed myocardium, a stress test will not create elevated myocardial background that would mask regions of myocardial perfusion deficiency. [¹²³I]IAZA would therefore be suitable for the detection of viable, hypoxic myocardium in patients undergoing stress-test-based diagnosis.

This study explores novel techniques to improve the detection accuracy of skarn iron deposits using advanced image processing methodologies. Leveraging the capabilities of Aster image, Band Ratio (BR) images, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), alongside the power of 3D Convolutional Neural Networks (3D-CNN), the research aims to enhance the precision and efficiency of ore detection in complex geological environments. The proposed method employs a specific 3D-CNN architecture, accepting input as a 7×7×C image patch, where C represents the combined number of selected Aster image bands, Principal Component (PC) bands, and computed BR images. To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method, five distinct image bands combinations, including the proposed bands combination, were tested and evaluated based on the overall accuracy (OA), average accuracy (AA), and kappa coefficient. The results demonstrated that while the incorporation of BR images alongside Aster bands initially seemed promising, it introduced significant confusion in certain classifications, leading to unexpected mis-classification rates. Surprisingly, utilizing solely Aster bands as input parameters yielded higher accuracy rates (OA= 93.13%, AA = 91.96%, Kappa = 90.91%) compared to scenarios involving the integration with band ratios (OA = 87.02%, AA = 79.15, and Kappa = 82.60%) or the integration of BR images to PC bands (OA= 87.78%, AA = 82.39%, Kappa = 83.81%). However, the amalgamation of Aster bands with selected PC bands showed slight improvements in accuracy (OA= 94.65%, AA = 92.93%, Kappa = 93.45%), although challenges in accurately classifying certain features persisted. Ultimately, the proposed combination of Aster bands, PC bands, and BR images (proposed bands combination) presented the most visually appealing and statistically accurate results (OA = 96.95%, AA= 94.87%, and Kappa = 95.93%), effectively addressing misclassifications observed in the other combinations. These findings underscore the synergistic contributions of each of the Aster bands, PC bands, and BR images, with Aster bands proving pivotal for optimal skarn classification, PC bands enhancing intrusions classification accuracy, and BR images strengthening wall rock classification accuracy. In conclusion, the proposed combination of input image bands emerges as a robust and comprehensive methodology, demonstrating unparalleled accuracy in the remote sensing detection of skarn iron minerals.

The chemistry and electrochemistry basic fields have been active since the last two decades of the past century studying how surface modification of electrodes by coating with conductive films enhances their activity and performance. In the light of the development of alternative sustainable ways of energy storage and carbon dioxide conversion by electrochemical processes, these research studies have jumped in the 21st century to more applied fields such as chemical engineering, energy and environmental science and engineering. The huge amount of literature on experimental works dealing with the development of CO2 electroreduction processes addresses electrocatalyst development. Membranes can help understanding and controlling the mass transport limitations of current electrodes and reactors designs. The present bibliometric review addresses the papers published in the 21st century regarding membrane coated electrodes and electrocatalysts to enhance electrochemical reactor performance and viability with a special focus on the urgent issue of carbon dioxide capture and utilization.

ABSTRACT Objectives: Typical Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRL) in terms of Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) and patient dose in terms of Effective Dose (ED ) and Size Specific Dose Estimate (SSDE) were estimated in Computed Tomography (CT) guided biopsy procedures. Materials and Methods: A total of 226 CT biopsy procedures - Iliac bone, liver, lung, mediastinum and para-aortic tissue - were retrospectively analyzed and Typical DRL extracted based on ICRP 135 instructions. Results: For helical mode acquisitions, DRLs in terms of CTDIvol were 9.7 mGy for Iliac bone, 8.9 mGy for liver, 8.8 mGy for lung, 7.9 mGy for mediastinal mass and 9 mGy for para-aortic lymph nodes biopsy procedures. For biopsy acquisitions, DRL values were 7.3 mGy, 7.7 mGy, 5.6 mGy, 5.6 mGy and 7.4 mGy respectively. Also, SSDE median values ranged from 7.6 mGy to 10 mGy for biopsy acquisitions and 11,3 mGy to 12,6 mGy for helical acquisitions, as well as the median values for effective dose ranged from 1.6 mSv to 5,7 mSv for biopsy scans and 3.9 to 9.3 mSv for helical scans. Conclusions: The use of DLR as an optimization tool for CT-guided biopsy procedures revealed that helical scans across the entire anatomical region greatly affect radiation dose compared to biopsy acquisitions.

This commentary is focused on radioactive contaminations in the Urals, where the consequences were more severe in the long term than those after the Chernobyl accident. The difference is that the latter was a technogenic catastrophe, but the former - a radioactive contamination tolerated since 70 years with several accidents in between. In earlier publications of Russian researchers no cancer frequency elevation was reported after exposures below 0.5 Sv or generally in the populations exposed to low doses. Later on, the same scientists started to claim similar relative risks for cancer and other diseases among exposed people in the Urals and in atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Apparently, an unofficial directive has been behind this ideological shift noticed around the year 2005. Trimming of statistics has been not unusual in the former Soviet Union. Potential motives included fostering radiophobia, stirring anti-nuclear protests in other countries and strangulation of nuclear energy aimed at the boosting of fossil fuel prices. Recent publications claiming cardiovascular risks after low-dose low-rate exposures and recommending more stringent standards of radiological protection are discussed here in some detail. Such recommendations for dose rates compatible with the natural radiation background are obviously nonsensical.

To date, radiation adaptation response has been reported as a low-dose related phenomenon and has been associated with radiation hormesis. Well-known cancers are caused by non-radiation active reactants, in addition to radiation. A model of suppression for radiation-specific cancers was previously reported, but the model did not target radiation-nonspecific cancers. In this paper, we describe kinetic models of radiation-induced suppressors for general radiation non-specific cancers, estimating the dose that induces the maximum hormesis effect while satisfying the condition that the risk is approximately proportional to dose above 100 mSv. It was found that the radiation hormesis effect is maximal at about 20 mSv when the rate constant for generation is the same as the rate constant for decomposition. When the two rate constants are different, the dose at which the radiation hormesis effect is maximized depends on both rate constants, but the dose increases as the two rate constants approach each other, reaching a maximum of about 20 mSv. This conclusion may lead to the discovery of unknown cancer suppressors at low doses and the development of cancer suppression methods in the future.

Fingerprint recognition systems have achieved widespread integration into various technological devices, including cell phones, computers, door locks, and time attendance machines. Nevertheless, individuals with worn fingerprints encounter challenges when attempting to unlock original fingerprint systems, resulting in disruptions to their daily activities. This study explores two distinct methods for fingerprint backup: traditional fingerprint impression and 3D printing technologies. Unlocking tests were conducted on commonly available optical fingerprint lock-equipped cell phones to assess the efficacy of these methods, particularly in unlocking worn fingerprints. The research findings indicated that traditional fingerprint impression method exhibited high fidelity in reproducing fingerprint patterns, achieving an impressive unlocking success rate of 97.8% for imprinting unworn fingerprints. However, when dealing with worn fingerprints, traditional fingerprint impression technique showed a reduced unlocking success rate, progressively decreasing with increasing degrees of finger wear. In contrast, 3D printed backup fingerprints, with image processing and optimization of ridge height, mitigated the impact of fingerprint wear on unlocking capability, resulting in an unlocking success rate of 84.4% or higher. Thus, the utilization of 3D printing technology proves advantageous for individuals with severely worn or incomplete fingerprints, providing a viable solution for unforeseen circumstances.

Abstract This study investigates the assessment literacy, perceived practice, and observed practice of CBA practices among TVET teachers and assessors in private TVET colleges in South Gonder Zone, Ethiopia. The participants included 49 teachers and 14 assessors. Data collection utilized a modified four-option multiple-choice test, the Teacher Assessment Competency Inventory Questionnaire, a five-point Likert scale for perceived and observed practices, a semi-structured observation checklist, and interviews. Descriptive analysis, including mean scores, standard deviation, one-sample t-test, and proportions (%), was employed to analyze the data. Pearson correlation test was used to explore relationships between teacher assessment test scores, observed practices, and perceived practices. Findings revealed that private TVET teachers in the Amhara National Regional State lacked competence in assessing students' competence, falling short of overall and specific standards in both the assessment competence test and real classroom practice. Despite this, teachers modestly perceived their assessment practices across competency domains. Consequently, there were significant differences between teachers' actual competence and practice in educational assessments and their self-perceived practice. Qualitative approaches, employing theme analysis of assessment practice from semi-structured observations and interviews, highlighted poor performance among teachers on most assessment criteria. A small percentage demonstrated competence in specific concepts. Overall, the majority of teachers exhibited low levels of assessment literacy, suggesting a need for professional support in educational assessment approaches to enhance competence among TVET teachers.

COVID-19 pandemic in first seven months has led to more than 15 million confirmed infected cases and 600,000 deaths. SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent for COVID-19 has proved a great challenge for its ability to spread in asymptomatic stages and a diverse disease spectrum it has generated. This has created a challenge of unimaginable magnitude not only affecting human health and life but also potentially generating a long-lasting socioeconomic impact. Both medical sciences and biomedical research have also been challenged consequently leading to a large number of clinical trials and vaccine initiatives. While known proteins of pathobiological importance are targets for these therapeutic approaches, it is imperative to explore other factors of viral significance. Accessory proteins are one such trait that have diverse roles in coronavirus pathobiology. Here we analyze certain genomic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 accessory protein ORF8, predict upon its protein features and review current available literature regarding its function. We have also undertaken review of ORF8 homolog ORF8ab from SARS-CoV with a purpose of developing holistic understanding of these proteins for reason that coronaviruses have been infecting humans repeatedly and might continue to do so. Despite low nucleotide and protein identity and differentiating genome level characteristics, there appears to be significant structural integrity and functional proximity between these proteins pointing towards their high significance. There is further need for comprehensive genomics and structural-functional studies to lead towards definitive conclusions regarding their criticality and that can eventually define their relevance to therapeutics development.

This manuscript examines the role of artificial intelligence in cancer imaging. It throws light on how artificial intelligence (AI) can significantly cut the wait time of patients and their clinicians in getting cancer diagnoses and assist health care providers by highlighting areas of an image where the interpreter needs to focus more for better result analysis and quality output. It also provides details on how the rise of AI attempts to standardize imaging results across providers by eliminating inter- and intra-observer variations among health care providers. Finally, it exposes the numerous limitations associated with AI use in cancer imaging, such as the need to digitize pathology laboratories and workflows, as well as transform our century-old tissue processing methods to fit into modern technological standards. In the field of radiology, the challenge of curating the enormous amount of data generated through MRIs, CT scans, PET scans, etc., poses a significant challenge to the ability of researchers to train relevant AI models to high levels of accuracy and reliability. In addition, over-reliance on AI by clinicians can deprive them of a common-sense approach to the health care issues of their patients and negatively impact doctor-patient relationships and confidentiality.

The integration of deep neural networks into sparse Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging has been explored to enhance SAR imaging performance and reduce the system’s sampling rate. However, the scarcity of training samples and mismatches between the training data and the SAR system pose significant challenges to the method’s further development. In this paper, we propose a novel SAR imaging approach based on Deep Image Prior Powered by RED (DeepRED), enabling unsupervised SAR imaging without the need for additional training data. Initially, DeepRED is introduced as the regularization technique within the sparse SAR imaging model. Subsequently, variable splitting and the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) are employed to solve the imaging model, alternately updating the magnitude and phase of the SAR image. Additionally, the SAR echo simulation operator is utilized as an observation model to enhance computational efficiency. Through simulations and real data experiments, we demonstrate that our method maintains imaging quality and system downsampling rate on par with deep neural network-based sparse SAR imaging, but without the requirement for training data.

The incidence of breast cancer and therefore need for breast reconstruction is expected to increase. The many reconstructive options available and the changing aspects of the field make this a complex area of plastic surgery, requiring knowledge and expertise. Two major types of breast reconstruction can be distinguished: Breast Implants and Autologous Flaps. Both present advantages and disadvantages. Autologous fat grafting is also commonly used. MRI is the modality of choice for evaluating breast reconstruction. Knowledge of the type of reconstruction is preferable to provide the maximum of pertinent information and avoid false positives. Early complications include seroma, hematoma, and infection. Late complications depend on the type of reconstruction. Implant rupture and implant capsular contracture are frequently encountered. Depending on the implant type, specific MRI signs can be depicted. In case of myocutaneous flap, fat necrosis, fibrosis and vascular compromise represent the most common complications. Late cancer recurrence is much less common. Rare reported late complications include breast implant associated large cell anaplastic lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) and, recently described and even rarer, Breast implant-associated squamous cell carcinoma (BIA-SCC). In this review article, the various types of breast reconstruction will be presented, with emphasis on pertinent imaging findings and complications.

Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) is a non-invasive, echocardiographic imaging technique that measures myocardial motion velocity throughout the cardiac cycle using Doppler principles. While conventional Doppler techniques assess blood flow velocity by sensing high-frequency, low amplitude signals from small, fast-moving blood cells, TDI uses the same Doppler principles to instead measure high-amplitude, lower-velocity signals of myocardial tissue. Methods A literature review was conducted to survey and review studies investigating the limitations, strengths, physical principles, novel methods, applications in diseased states, and prognostic capabilities of TDI. These articles were further screened for inclusion, and those deemed ineligible or irrelevant to the scope of the review were discarded. In total, 19 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Results TDI is shown to be an effective method for detailed quantification of cardiac function. It provides an early means of diagnosing cardiac dysfunction and is a valid prognostic indicator for various forms of heart disease. TDI's versatility and precision allows clinicians to predict the clinical course of disease, leading to early intervention and the selection of targeted care management plans for many cardiac pathologies. Despite imaging limitations like angle dependence and incapacity for passive and active motion differentiation, further investigation continues to reveal novel TDI methodologies that advance the scope of this imaging technique.

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), with poor prognosis and high mortality rates, is one of the most diagnosed head and neck cancers. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) - epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) loop is increasingly implicated in the therapy-resistance, relapse, and metastasis of OSCC patients. Accumulating evidence indicate that aberrantly expressed CD47 is associated with cell-death evasion, invasion and cancer metastasis; however, the role of CD47 in the modulation of CSCs-like phenotypes, including therapy-resistance and metastasis, with its underlying mechanism in OSCC remains largely underexplored. Methods: This study investigated the CSCs- modulating potential of CD47 in OSCC cell lines SAS, TW2.6, HSC-3 and FaDu using bioinformatics approach, immunoblotting, immunofluorescence staining, migration, invasion, colony and orosphere formation, as well as radiosensitivity assays. Results: We demonstrated that the characteristic ectopic expression of CD47 in OSCC patients was associated with ~ 20% 2-year survival disadvantage (p = 0.01) and positively correlated with the expression of pluripotency factors; while shRNA silencing of CD47 significantly suppressed cell viability and markedly inhibited orosphere formation, resulting in smaller and fewer orospheres, and downregulated CD133, SOX2, OCT4 and c-Myc mRNA and protein expression levels. We also showed that CD47 downregulation attenuates EMT, migration and clonogenicity of OSCC cells, with associated E-cadherin upregulation and suppression of Vimentin, Slug, Snail, and N-cadherin expression. Conclusion: Of therapeutic relevance, combined with radiotherapy, CD47 knockdown enhanced the anti-OSCC effect of radiotherapy. Thus, we demonstrate the therapeutic feasibility of a CD47-mediated anti-CSCs strategy, and suggest a role for CD47 suppression in potentiating the therapeutic efficacy of radiation therapy in OSCC patients.

Abstract: Chloroplast is a new hotspot in the field of plant transformation system of plant genetic engineering. Initially developed in Chlamydomonas and tobacco, it is now feasible in a broad range of species. They exploit the homologous recombination and segregation pathways acting on chloroplast genomes and are based on direct repeats, transient co-integration or co-transformation and segregation of trait and marker genes. Foreign site-specific recombinases and their target sites provide an alternative and effective method for removing marker genes from plastids.Chloroplast genetic engineering has many advantages over nuclear genetic enginering, especially site-specific introduction of foreign genes ,leading to the absence of gene siliency and positon effect,which providing the available to explore the regulation and mechanism of chloroplast genes`expression in vitro .It also can identify the structure and function of the chloroplast genome , the expression of chloroplast affect the nulear genome. In this paper, the basic methodology of chloroplast transformation, the current techniques and applications, and the future possibilities for Chloroplast genetic engineering was reviewed[1-3].

.Background: Prophylactic hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) showed promising results in patients with colorectal carcinoma at high risk of recurrence but still without clinically and radiologically evident signs of peritoneal spread. This study aims to analyze the feasibility of this proactive, early phase, multimodality approach. Methods: A mono-institutional, prospective, parallel, two-stage phase II trial enrolled 49 patients to standard surgery or surgery plus intraoperative HIPEC. Before the procedure and during surgery, patients received intravenous fluorouracil (and leucovorin to potentiate oxaliplatin activity. Data analysis included length of hospital stay, surgery duration, type of surgery and chemotherapy-related complications risk score. Results: No significant difference was seen in the median time spent in the hospital with a median stay of 7 days in both groups (p=0.5720). The surgical procedure's median duration was longer in the HIPEC group than in the control one. Side-effects and surgical complications did not cross at any time the Pocock-type boundary for side/effect monitoring (p=0.80, N.S.). Conclusions: The present prospective study results demonstrate the feasibility and safety of the colorectal surgery plus HIPEC treatment in patients with colorectal cancer patients at high-risk for peritoneal invasion, although clinically and radiologically undetectable.

To investigate whether the ech42 gene in Clonostachys rosea can improve the biocontrol efficacy of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and its molecular mechanism.Compared to the wild type, the B. amyloliquefaciens transformed with the ech42 gene exhibited a higher chitinase activity. The B. amyloliquefaciens-ech42 also showed a significantly higher biocontrol efficiency against B. cinerea when tomato plants were pre-treated with amyloliquefaciens-ech42. No significant difference of control efficiency was observed between the wild type and amyloliquefaciens-ech42 when tomato plants were first infected by B. cinerea. In addition, the activity of the defense-related enzyme polyphenol oxidase, but not superoxide dismutase was significantly higher in amyloliquefaciens-ech42 than in the wild type.The ech42 enhances the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens biocontrol efficiency by increasing the capacity of protection/prevention to plants, rather treating/killing the pathogens.

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most prominent pathological microvascular complications in diabetes. A series of studies reported that vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased prevalence of retinopathy in diabetic patients but the results were inconsistent. In this study we focused on evaluating the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and DR by conducting a meta-analysis of observational studies. Methods: Systematic computerized searches were performed in PubMed, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Library for relevant original articles till November 20, 2016. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the associated value of vitamin D deficiency to the risk of DR. 9 studies including 6332 participants were subjected to final analysis. Results: The results indicated that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of DR (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.32-1.87) with a little heterogeneity (I2 = 23%). In addition, the subgroup analysis demonstrated that there were obvious heterogeneities in T2DM (I2 = 47.8%). Sensitivity analysis showed that the results were relatively stable and reliable. Conclusion: our meta-analysis demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency could increase the risk of DR.

Light microscopy is indispensable for analysis of bacterial spatial organization. However, imaging in bacteria is difficult due to their small sizes and the fact that most species are non-spherical, meaning they typically lie horizontally on a microscope coverslip. This is especially problematic when considering that many essential bacterial processes—such as cell division—occur along the short axes of these cells, and so are viewed side-on by standard microscopy. We recently developed a pair of methods to overcome this problem by forcing cells to stand vertically during imaging, named VerCINI (Vertical Cell Imaging by Nanostructured Immobilisation) and µVerCINI (Microfluidic VerCINI). The concept behind both methods is that cells are imaged while confined vertically inside cell traps made from a nanofabricated mould. By doing so, the short axes of the cells are rotated parallel to the microscope imaging plane and are imaged with high resolution. μVerCINI combines the vertical cell confinement with microfluidics so that vertical imaging can be done during fluid exchange, such as during antibiotic perturbations. Here, we provide a practical guide to implementing both VerCINI and µVerCINI, with detailed protocols and experience-based tips so that interested researchers can easily use one or both imaging methods to complement their current approaches.

Patients with lean NAFLD make up an increasing subset of liver diseases. The association between lean NAFLD and feutin-A, which serves as a hepatokine and adipokine, has never been examined. Our study aimed to explore the association of serum fetuin-A among lean and nonlean patients. The study comprised 606 adults from the community, stratified into lean or nonlean (BMI </≥ 24 kg/m2) and NAFLD or non-NAFLD (scoring of ultrasonographic fatty liver indicator, US-FLI ≥ 2/<2). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the odds ratio of having NAFLD among the tertiles of fetuin-A after adjustment. The least square means were computed by general linear models to estimate marginal means of the serum fetuin-A concentrations in relation to the NAFLD groups. The OR of having NAFLD for the highest versus the lowest tertile of fetuin-A was 2.62 (95% CI: 1.72-3.98; P for trend<0.001). Stratifying by BMI, the OR of having lean NAFLD for the highest versus the lowest tertile of fetuin-A was 2.09 (95% CI: 1.09-3.98; P for trend 0.026), while nonlean NAFLD had no significant association with the fetuin-A gradient after adjustments. Fetuin-A was positively associated with lean NAFLD after adjusting for central obesity and insulin resistance.

This paper introduces an innovative approach to lipreading, leveraging a web application designed to generate subtitles for videos where the speaker's mouth is visible and a comprehensive literature review that precedes the discussion, encompassing a thorough examination of various lipreading methods employed over the past decade. Our method employs a powerful deep learning model, featuring a 3D-convolution network and bidirectional LSTM, enabling accurate sentence-level predictions based solely on visual lip movements. With an impressive accuracy of 97%, our model is trained using pre-segmented lips regions, transformed into animated GIFs for effective pre-training. This work stands as a significant contribution to the evolving landscape of lipreading research, offering a practical and accurate solution for real-world applications.

Digital twins are gaining in popularity for simulating complex natural and urban environments. In this context, accurate segmentation of objects within 3D urban environments is of crucial importance. The aim of this project is to develop a methodology for extracting buildings from textured 3D meshes. To this end, PicassoNet-II, a semantic segmentation architecture is employed. The methodology also incorporates Markov field-based contextual analysis to assess post-segmentation features. In addition, building instantiation is performed using cluster analysis algorithms. Training this model to fit various datasets requires a large amount of annotated data, both from Quebec City, Canada, and from simulated data. Experimental results show that the use of simulated data improves segmentation accuracy, and the DBScan algorithm proves effective in extracting isolated buildings. This project paves the way for improved applications in 3D urban modeling, offering opportunities in fields ranging from urban planning to resource management. The positive results with simulated data reinforce the impact of this research on improving digital models of our ever-changing urban environments.

Imaging flow cytometry (ImFC) represents a significant technological advancement in the field of cytometry, effectively merging the high-throughput capabilities of flow analysis with the image-based features of microscopy. In this comprehensive review article, we take a historical perspective and delve into the evolution of this methodology, presenting its past, exploring current state-of-the-art and forecasting potential future advancements. The inception of ImFC arose from the innovative combination of a flow cytometer's hydraulics with the technology of an advanced camera. This synergistic coupling facilitated the morphological analysis of cell populations at a high-throughput scale, effectively evolving the landscape of cytometry. However, the application of ImFC faced several challenges. Among the most prominent ones, is the development and implementation of software systems that can reliably and efficiently handle the robust data acquisition and analysis inherent in ImFC. The scale and complexity of the data generated by ImFC necessitates the creation of novel analytical tools that can effectively manage and interpret this data, thus allowing us to unlock the full potential of ImFC. Interestingly, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have begun to be implemented on ImFC, offering a promise for enhancing analytical capabilities. The adaptability and learning capacity of AI may prove to be essential in knowledge mining from high-dimensional data produced by ImFC, potentially enabling more accurate analyses. Looking forward, we project that ImFC may become an indispensable tool, not only in research laboratories but also in clinical settings. Given the unique combination of high-throughput cytometry and detailed imaging offered by ImFC, we foresee a critical role for this technology in the next generation of scientific research and diagnostics. As such, we encourage both current and future scientists to consider the integration of ImFC as an addition to their research toolkit and clinical diagnostic routine.

Capacitive contact imaging has shown potential in measuring skin properties including hydration, micro relief analysis, as well as solvent penetration measurements. Through calibration we can also measure the absolute permittivity of the skin, and from absolute permittivity we then work out the absolute solvent content in skin. In this paper, we present our latest study of capacitive contact imaging for skin characterizations and vivo skin solvent penetration. We will show how to use capacitive occlusion measurements to characterize skin damages, and how to calculate the absolute water content and solvent content in skin.

Optical tissue imaging has several advantages over the routine clinical imaging methods, including non-invasiveness (does not change the structure of tissues), remote operation (avoids infection) and ability to quantify the tissue condition by means of specific image parameters. Dermatologists and other skin experts need compact (preferably pocket-size), self-sustained and easy-to-use imaging devices. The operational principles and designs of ten portable in-vivo skin imaging prototypes developed at the Biophotonics Laboratory of Institute of Atomic Physics and Spectroscopy, University of Latvia during the recent five years are presented in this paper. Four groups of imaging devices are considered. Multi-spectral imagers offer possibilities for distant mapping of specific skin parameters, so facilitating better diagnostics of skin malformations. Autofluorescence intensity and photobleaching rate imagers show a promising potential for skin tumor identification and margin delineation. Photoplethysmography video-imagers ensure remote detection of cutaneous blood pulsations and can provide real-time information on cardiovascular parameters and anesthesia efficiency. Multimodal skin imagers perform several of the above-mentioned functions by taking a number of spectral and video images with the same image sensor. Design details of the developed prototypes and results of clinical tests illustrating their functionality are presented and discussed.

It is essential to consider the factors that affect early childhood development because doing so can help identify potential risks and window of opportunity for intervention to improve outcomes for children. However, identifying risk and protective factors in early childhood requires careful consideration of several challenges and an integrated approach that recognises the complex and dynamic nature of development. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the prevalent psychosocial risk and protective factors in the early childhood development phase, using an ecological perspective. The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional study using a random sampling technique. The final sample consisted of 505 caregivers of children aged 5 years old and younger. This study revealed that the most prevalent protective factors include child self-regulation, parent-child warmth, family management and collective efficacy but more importantly social support. While risk factors may exist this is mitigated by social support as it moderates and buffers against the effects of risk factors, as indicated by the various research studies cited.

Abstract: Assessing infection by a parasite, such as Haemonchus contortus, requires time and experienced personnel. Field-based diagnostics using metagenomic species-specific targeting methods would be beneficial. Here, we examine two helminth control methods, zoledronic acid (ZA), an activator of γ δ T cells, and a neutralizing antibody (AB) against γ δ T cells. We conducted a randomized complete block designed investigation for the effects of Haemonchus contortus (Hc) infection on Alpine wethers (young castrated male goats) to identify if metagenomic methods will provide strong evidence for diagnostics. Different tissues were collected from wethers and the microbiome compositions were identified. The relative proportion of microbial community members in the environments; the richness of the microbial community; and the evenness of distribution in microbial community members were determined. It was hypothesized that numerous parameters that include many data points will provide a more precise means to identify infection or health based on similarity to uninfected control data parameters. We found that samples did not sequence well, when multiplexed with high concentration libraries, giving taxonomic numbers that had residual and unmeasured confounding bias related to analysis or selection that define significance of OTUs in the tissue samples at the phylum or species level.

Electrospinning is the versatile technique to generate large quantities of micro- or nano-fibers from a wide variety of shapes and sizes of polymer. Natural bone is a hierarchically composites with the dispersion of inorganic ceramic along organic polymer. The aim of this study, the electrospun poly (lactic acid) (PLA) mats coated with chitosan (CH) and calcium silicate (CS) powder were fabricated. The morphology, chemical composition, and surface properties of CS/CH-PLA composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In vitro, the CS/CH-coated PLA mats increased the formation of apatite on the surface when soaking in cell cultured medium. During culture, the adhesion and proliferation of the human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) cultured on CS/CH-PLA were significantly promoted relative to those on PLA. Collagen I and fibronectin levels and promoted cell adhesion were observed upon an increase in CS content. Further, compared to PLA mats without CS/CH, CS10 and CS15 mats markedly enhanced the proliferation of hMSCs as well as their osteogenesis properties, which was characterized by bone-related gene expression. Our results demonstrated that the biodegradable and electroactive CS/CH-PLA mats had potential application as an ideal candidate for bone tissue engineering. Together, findings from this study clearly demonstrated that PLLA-C2S composite scaffold may function as an ideal candidate for bone tissue engineering.

The chiral optical Tamm state (COTS) is a special localized state at the interface of a handedness-preserving mirror and a structurally chiral medium such as a cholesteric liquid crystal or a chiral sculptured thin film. The spectral behavior of COTS, observed as reflection resonances, is described by the temporal coupled-mode theory. Mode coupling is different for two circular light polarizations because COTS has a helix structure replicating that of the cholesteric. The mode coupling for co-handed circularly polarized light exponentially attenuates with the cholesteric layer thickness since the COTS frequency falls into the stop band. Cross-handed circularly polarized light freely goes through the cholesteric layer and can excite COTS when reflected from the handedness-preserving mirror. The coupling in this case is proportional to anisotropy of the cholesteric and theoretically it is only anisotropy of magnetic permittivity that can ultimately cancel this coupling. These two couplings being equal results in a polarization crossover (the Kopp--Genack effect) for which a linear polarization is optimal to excite COTS. The corresponding cholesteric thickness and scattering matrix for COTS are generally described by simple expressions.

LPA3 receptors were expressed in TREx HEK 293 cells, and their signaling and phosphorylation were studied. The agonist, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), increased intracellular calcium and ERK phosphorylation through pertussis toxin-insensitive processes. Phorbol myristate acetate, but not LPA, desensitizes LPA3-mediated calcium signaling. The agonists and the phorbol ester-induced LPA3 internalization. Pitstop 2 (clathrin heavy chain inhibitor) markedly reduced LPA-induced receptor internalization; in contrast, phorbol ester-induced internalization was only delayed. LPA induced rapid β-arrestin-LPA3 receptor association. The agonist and the phorbol ester induced marked LPA3 receptor phosphorylation, and phosphorylation sites were detected using mass spectrometry. Phosphorylated residues were detected in the intracellular loop 3 (S221, T224, S225, and S229) and in the carboxyl terminus (S321, S325, S331, T333, S335, Y337, and S343). Interestingly, phosphorylation sites are within sequences predicted to constitute β-arrestin binding sites. These data provide insight into LPA3 receptor signaling and regulation.

Hyper-radiosensitivity (HRS) is the increased sensitivity to low doses of ionizing radiation observed in most cell lines. We previously demonstrated that HRS is permanently abolished in cells irradiated at a low dose rate (LDR), in a mechanism dependent on transforming growth factor β3 (TGF-β3). In this study, we aimed to elucidate the activation and receptor binding of TGF-β3 in this mechanism. T-47D cells were pre-treated with inhibitors of potential receptors and activators of TGF-β3, along with addition of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from LDR primed cells, before their radiosensitivity was assessed by the clonogenic assay. The protein content of sEVs from LDR primed cells was analyzed with mass spectrometry. Our results show that sEVs contain TGF-β3 regardless of priming status, but only sEVs from LDR primed cells remove HRS in reporter cells. Inhibition of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family prevents removal of HRS, suggesting an MMP-dependent activation of TGF-β3 in the LDR primed cells. We demonstrate a functional interaction between TGF-β3 and activin receptor like kinase 1 (ALK1), by showing that TGF-β3 removes HRS through ALK1 binding, independent of ALK5 and TGF-βRII. These results are an important contribution to a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanism behind TGF-β3 mediated removal of HRS.

3D meso-scale structures that can reach up to centimeters in overall size but retain micro- or nano-features, proved to be promising in various science fields ranging from micro-mechanical metamaterials to photonics and bio-medical scaffolds. In this work we present synchronization of the linear and galvano scanners for efficient femtosecond 3D optical printing of objects at the meso-scale (from sub-μm to sub-cm spanning five orders of magnitude). In such configuration the linear stages provide stitch-free structuring at nearly limitless (up to tens-of-cm) working area, while galvo-scanners allow to achieve translation velocities in the range of mm/s-cm/s without sacrificing nano-scale positioning accuracy and preserving undistorted shape of the final print. The principle behind this approach is demonstrated, proving its inherent advantages in comparison to separate use of only linear stages or scanners. The printing rate is calculated in terms voxels/s, showcasing the capability to maintain an optimal feature size while increasing throughput. Full capabilities of this approach are demonstrated by fabricating structures that reach millimeters in size but still retain μm-scale features: scaffolds for cell growth, microlenses and photonic crystals. All this is combined into a benchmark structure: a meso-butterfly. Provided results show that synchronization of two scan modes is crucial for the end goal of industrial-scale implementation of this technology and makes the laser printing well aligned with similar approaches in nanofabrication by electron and ion beams.

Objectives. Optimal treatment strategy for ischemic stroke in patients presenting with tandem occlusions the internal carotid artery remains controversial. Several studies have demonstrated better clinical outcomes after eptifibatide, which is a short half-life antiplatelet agent. This retrospective analysis was focused at safety and efficacy of administration of low-dose eptifibatide in stroke patients with tandem lesions. Methods. We evaluated results of endovascular treatment in 148 stroke patients with tandem lesions. Patients in whom balloon angioplasty alone resulted in satisfactory cerebral flow did not receive eptifibatide (33 patients); others received this drug together with stent implantation (115 patients). Eptifibatide was given in as intravenous bolus 180 g/kg, and then in modified low dose of 1 g/kg/min for 24 hours. Results. There were no statistically significant differences between both groups regarding 30-day mortality, frequency of thrombotic events and hemorrhagic complications. Analysis of clinical status at 30-day follow-up revealed that administration of eptifibatide was associated with statistically significant better outcome: a higher rate of either no neurological symptoms or only mild symptoms (4 NIHSS points maximally). Conclusions. Administration of eptifibatide in stroke patients presenting with tandem lesions is relatively safe. Moreover, treatment with this drug can improve clinical outcomes in these challenging patients.

We compared the functional and morphologic effects in the loading dose between patients with treatment-naïve neovascular age-related macular degeneration treated with either intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) or intravitreal faricimab (IVF) injection in clinical settings. This retrospective study included 30 eyes from 28 patients who started IVA treatment between June and September 2022 and 30 eyes from 29 patients who started IVF treatment between October 2022 and March 2023. The mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) significantly improved from pre-treatment after loading dose in the IVA group (from 0.46 ± 0.46 to 0.36 ± 0.37, p=0.0047) and not in the IVF group (from 0.46 ± 0.41 to 0.44 ± 0.45, p=0.60). The mean central retinal thickness (CRT) significantly improved in both groups. The proportion of eyes with residual exudative change was greater in the IVF group than in the IVA group at 2 months after the first treatment. (p=0.026) We further analyzed the patients who obtained complete resolution of exudative changes after the loading dose. The IVA group had a significant improvement in BCVA, whereas the IVF group did not p=0.0047 and 0.20, respectively) Although IVA and IVF significantly improved the CRT, the BCVA improved significantly in IVA group and not in IVF group.

Ecdysterone is a phytosteroid widely discussed for its various pharmacological, growth-promoting and anabolic effects mediated by activation of estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta). Performance-enhancement in sports was demonstrated recently, and ecdysterone was consequently included in the Monitoring Program to detect potential patterns of misuse in sport. Only few studies on the pharmacokinetics of ecdysterone in humans have been reported so far. In this study, post-administration urines in twelve volunteers (single dose of 50 mg of ecdysterone) were analyzed using dilute-and-inject liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Identification and quantitation of ecdysterone and of two metabolites, 14-deoxy ecdysterone and 14-deoxy poststerone was achieved. Ecdysterone was the most abundant analyte present in post-administration urines, detected for more than 2 days with a maximum concentration (Cmax) in the 2.8-8.5 h urines (Cmax = 4.4-30.0 µg/mL). The metabolites 14-deoxy ecdysterone and 14-deoxy poststerone were detected later reaching the maximum concentrations at 8.5-39.5 h (Cmax = 0.1-6.0 µg/mL) and 23.3-41.3 h (Cmax = 0.1-1.5 µg/mL), respectively. Cumulative urinary excretion yielded average values of 18%, 2.3% and 1.5% for ecdysterone, 14-deoxy ecdysterone and 14-deoxy poststerone, respectively. Ecdysterone and 14-deoxy ecdysterone were excreted following first order kinetics with half-lives calculated with three hours, while pharmacokinetics of 14-deoxy poststerone needs further evaluation.

Introduction: The current generation of 3D printers are lighter, cheaper, and smaller, making them more accessible to the chairside digital dentist than ever before. 3D printers in general in the industrial and chairside setting can work with various types of materials including, metals, ceramics, and polymers. Evidence presented in many studies show that an ideal material used for dental restorations is characterised by several properties related to durability, cost-effectiveness, and high performance. This review is the second part in a 3D Printing series that looks at the literature on material science and applications for these materials in 3D printing as well as a discussion on the potential further development and future evolution in 3D printing materials. Conclusions: Current materials in 3D printing provide a wide range of possibilities for providing more predictable workflows as well as improving efficiency through less wasteful additive manufacturing in CAD/CAM procedures. Incorporating a 3D printer and a digital workflow into a dental practice is challenging but the wide range of manufacturing options and materials available mean that the dentist should be well prepared to treat patients with a more predictable and cost effective treatment pathway. As 3D printing continues to become a commonplace addition to chair side dental clinics, the evolution of these materials, in particular reinforced PMMA, resin incorporating zirconia and glass reinforced polymers offer increased speed and improved aesthetics that will likely replace subtractive manufacturing milling machines for most procedures.

While there is a coordinated effort around reaching zero dose children and closing existing equity gaps in immunization delivery, it’s important that there is agreement and clarity around how ‘zero dose status’ is defined and what is gained and lost by using different indicators for zero dose status. There are two popular approaches used in research, program design, and advocacy to define zero dose status: one uses a single vaccine to serve as a proxy for zero dose status, while another uses a subset of vaccines to identify children who have missed all routine vaccines. We provide a global analysis utilizing the most recent publicly available DHS and MICS data to compare the number, proportion, and profile of children 12 to 23 months who are ‘penta-zero dose’ (have not received the pentavalent vaccine), ‘truly’ zero dose (have not received the BCG, polio, pentavalent, and measles vaccines), and ‘misclassified’ zero dose children (those who are penta-zero dose but have received at least one other vaccine). Our analysis includes 194,829 observations from 82 low- and middle-income countries. Globally, 14.2% of children are penta-zero dose and 7.5% are truly zero dose, suggesting that 46.5% of penta-zero dose children have had at least one contact with the immunization system. While there are similarities in the profile of children that are penta-zero dose and truly zero dose, there are key differences between the proportion of key characteristics among truly zero dose and misclassified zero dose children, including access to maternal and child health services. By understanding the extent of connection zero dose children may have with the health and immunization system and contrasting it with how much the use of a more feasible definition of zero dose may underestimate the level of vulnerability in the zero dose population, we provide insights that can help immunization programs design strategies that better target the most disadvantaged populations. If the vulnerability profiles of the truly zero dose children are qualitatively different from that of the penta zero dose children, then failing to distinguish the truly zero dose populations, and how to optimally reach them, may lead to the development of misguided or inefficient strategies for vaccinating the most disadvantaged population of children.

: Image guided superficial radiation therapy (IGSRT) combines superficial radiation therapy (SRT) with full dermal visualization (FDV) via high resolution dermal ultrasound (HRDUS) for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). The gold standard for IGSRT delivery includes a comprehensive cancer care model with support for the dermatologists by a multidisciplinary team. When delivered in this model, IGSRT can achieve cure rates of 99% for treatment of NMSC. This paper focuses on the benefits of IGSRT during therapy. Medical records from 7 dermatology clinics of 883 patients with 1,507 cases of NMSC treated with IGSRT be-tween 2017 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. 92% of the NMSC lesions showed daily depth fluctuations, 60.32% of lesions did not require changes during therapy, and nearly 40% of lesions required at least one compensatory change during therapy. 83% of NMSC lesions were labeled high-risk based on the 2024 NCCN guidelines. Increasing and decreasing tumor depth measurements during IGSRT inform dermatologists when adaptive changes in energy (kV), TDF and dose will result in more efficacy and less toxicity, respectively.

Leukodystrophies, also known as demyelinating diseases, mainly affect the CNS. Clinical presentation of different types of leukodystrophies can be nonspecific and thus, imaging techniques like MRI can be used for a more definitive diagnosis. These diseases are characterized as cerebral lesions with characteristic demyelinating patterns, which can be used as differentiating tools. In this review, we talk about these MRI imaging findings for each leukodystrophy, associated genetics, blood work that can help differentiate, emerging diagnostics, and follow up imaging strategy. The leukodystrophies discussed in this paper include X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, Metachromatic leukodystrophy, Krabbe’s disease, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, Alexander’s disease, Canavan disease, and Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome.

Inflammation of the periodontal tissue (periodontitis) is the highest problem of oral health in Indonesia after caries. Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a new imaging technique that can be simply constructed using a diode laser combined with a condenser microphone. This study aims to determine that a simple PAI system was able to image periodontal disease in animal model. Samples of the study were normal periodontal and periodontitis tissue, obtained from Sprague-Dawley rats that were divided into four groups, i.e. the control group, treatment group 1 (7 days periodontitis induction), treatment group 2 (11 days periodontitis induction), and treatment group 3 (14 days periodontitis induction). The PAI system was controlled by Labview and Arduino IDE software from a personal computer. Results of the study reveal that the optimal frequency of laser modulation for periodontal tissue imaging was 19 kHz with duty cycle of 50%. Photoacoustic (PA) intensity was obtained from higher to lower of -68,71 dB (treatment group 3), -70,69 dB (treatment group 2), -71,69 dB (treatment group 1), and -73,07 dB (control group) respectively. The photoacoustic images were analyzed to define the contrast between sample and media. The PA intensity of the samples were higher than media. Therefore, this study demonstrate the feasibility of simple PAI system to differentiate normal periodontal tissue and periodontitis.

Table grape quality is of importance for consumers and thus for producers. The objective quality determination is usually destructive and very simple with the assessment of only a couple of parameters. This study proposed to evaluate the possibility of hyperspectral imaging to characterize table grapes quality through its sugar, total flavonoid and total anthocyanin contents. Different pre-treatments (WB, SNV, 1st and 2nd derivative) and different methods were tested: PLS with full spectra, then Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) were realized after selecting the optimal wavelengths thanks to the regression coefficients (-coefficients) and the Variable Importance in Projection (VIP) scores from the full spectra. All models were good showing that hyperspectral imaging is a relevant method to assess sugar content and global phenolic content. The best model was dependent on the variable. The best models were from the full spectra and with the 2nd derivative pre-treatment for TSS; from VIPs optimal wavelengths using SNV pre-treatment for Total Flavonoid and total Anthocyanin content. Thus, relevant models were proposed using the full spectra, as well as specific windows and wavelengths in order to reduce the data sets and limit the data storage to enable an industrial use.

When overhead lines are impacted by lightning, the traveling wave of the fault contains a wealth of fault information. The accurate extraction of feature quantities from transient components and their classification is fundamental to the identification of lightning faults. The extraction process may involve modal aliasing, optimal wavelet base issues, and inconsistencies between the lightning strike distance and the fault point, which have the potential to impact the effectiveness of recognition. This paper presents a method for identifying lightning strike faults by utilizing Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence enhanced Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) and Symmetric Geometry Mode Decomposition (SGMD) improved with Permutation Entropy (PE) to address the aforementioned issues. A model of a 220 kV overhead line is constructed using real faults to replicate scenarios of winding strike, counterstrike, and short-circuit. The three-phase voltage is chosen and then sub-jected to Karenbaren decoupling in order to transform it into zero mode, line mode 1, and line mode 2. The zero mode voltage is decomposed using KL-VMD and PE-SGMD methods, and lightning identification criteria are developed based on various transient energy ratios. The research findings demonstrate that the criteria effectively differentiate between winding strike, counterstrike, and short-circuit faults, thus confirming the accuracy and efficacy of the lightning fault identification criteria utilizing KL-VMD and PE-SGMD.

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is an optical technique used to measure surface displacements and strains in materials and structures. This technique has demonstrated significant utility in structural examination and monitoring. This manuscript offers a comprehensive review of contemporary research and applications that have leveraged the DIC technique in laboratory-based structural tests. The reviewed works encompass a broad spectrum of structural components, such as concrete beams, columns, pillars, masonry walls, infills, composite materials, structural joints, steel beams, slabs, and other structural elements. These investigations have underscored the efficacy of DIC as a metrological instrument for precise quantification of surface deformation and strain in these structural components. Moreover, the constraints of the DIC technique have been highlighted, especially in scenarios involving extensive or complex test configurations. Notwithstanding these constraints, the DIC methodology has validated its effectiveness as a strain measurement instrument, offering numerous benefits such as non-invasive operation, full-field measurement capability, high precision, real-time surveillance, and compatibility with integration into other measurement instruments and methodologies.

Clock Network Design (CDN) is a critical step while designing any Integrated-Circuits (ICs). It holds vital importance in the performance of entire circuit. Due to continuous scaling, 3D ICs stacked with TSV are gaining importance, with an objective to continue with the Moore's law. Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) provides the vertical interconnection between two die, which allows the electrical signal to flow through it. 3D ICs has many advantages over conventional 2D planar ICs like reduced power, area, cost, wire-length etc. The proposed work is mainly focused on power reduction and obstacle avoidance for 3D ICs. Various techniques have already been introduced for minimizing clock power within specified clock constraints of the 3D CND network. Proposed 3D Clock Tree Synthesis (CTS) is a combination of various algorithms with an objective to meet reduction in power as well as avoidance of obstacle or blockages while routing the clock signal from one sink to other sink. These blockages like RAM, ROM, PLL etc. are fixed during the placement process. The work is carried out mainly in three steps- first is Generation of 3D Clock tree avoiding the blockages, then Buffering and Embedding and finally validating the results by SPICE simulation. The experimental result shows that our CTS approach results in significant 9% reduction in power as compare to the existing work.

Visualizing geo-spatial data embedded into a three-dimensional terrain is challenging. The problem becomes even more complex when uncertainty information needs to be presented as well. This paper addresses the question of how to visually communicate all three aspects: the 3D terrain, the geo-spatial data, and the data-associated uncertainty. We argue that visualizing all aspects with a high degree of detail will likely exceed the visual budget. Therefore, we propose a visualization strategy based on prioritizing a selected aspect and presenting the remaining two with less detail. We discuss various design options that allow us to obtain differently prioritized visual representations. Our approach has been implemented as a tool for rapid visualization prototyping in the context of avionics applications. Practical solutions are described for a use case related to the visualization of 3D terrain and uncertain weather data.

In food industry, there is a growing demand for cost-effective methods for inline inspection of food items able to non-invasively detect small foreign bodies which may have contaminated the product during the production process. Microwave imaging may be a valid alternative to the existing technologies, thanks to its inherently low-cost and its capability of sensing low-density contaminants. In this paper, a low-complexity microwave imaging system specifically designed to enable the inspection of a large variety of food products is presented. The system consists of two Circularly Loaded Antipodal Vivaldi Antennas, having a very large operative band, from 1 to 15 GHz, thus allowing a suitable spatial resolution for different food products from mostly fatty to high water-content ones. The antennas are arranged in such a way to collect the signal useful to exploit a recently proposed real-time microwave imaging strategy, leveraging the inherent symmetries usually characterizing food items. The system is experimentally characterized, and the achieved results compare favorably with the design specifications and the numerical simulations. Relying on these positive results, a first experimental proof of the effectiveness of the whole system is presented, which confirms its efficacy.

Pregnant women have been considered a high-risk group for SARS-CoV-2 infection; the impact of the disease on the health of a mother and her child is still being studied. The emotional impact of the pandemic on pregnant women has been extensively studied. Emotional distress is proposed as a perspective to explain the emotional manifestations of women during this stage as something common rather than pathological. The objective of this study was to know the emotional experience of women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 towards the end of their pregnancy, during the first and second waves of COVID in Mexico. A qualitative study was carried out: 18 pregnant women with COVID were interviewed. A thematic analysis of the data was performed, resulting in three main themes and 14 subthemes. The COVID-infected mothers-to-be experienced mild to moderate emotional distress. It was more intense for those with comorbidities. This distress was aggravated during obstetrical complications and comorbidities, as well as during COVID and postpartum. The emotional distress was appeased by both the perception of medical care and social support. The emotional distress of pregnant women with COVID requires emotional accompaniment to reduce its impact.

Metaheuristic algorithms are widely used as optimization methods, due to their global exploration and exploitation characteristics, which obtain better results than a simple heuristic. The Stochastic Fractal Search (SFS) is a novel method inspired by the process of stochastic growth in nature and the use of the fractal mathematical concept. Considering the chaotic-stochastic diffusion property, an improved Dynamic Stochastic Fractal Search (DSFS) optimization algorithm is presented. The DSFS algorithm was tested with benchmark functions, such as the multimodal, hybrid and composite functions, to evaluate the performance of the algorithm with dynamic parameter adaptation with type-1 and type-2 fuzzy inference models. The main contribution of the article is the utilization of fuzzy logic in the adaptation of the diffusion parameter in a dynamic fashion. This parameter is in charge of creating new fractal particles, and the diversity and iteration are the input information used in the fuzzy system to control the values of diffusion.

An upsurge in global population over the years and rapid urbanization have accelerated huge dependence on petroleum-derived fuels and consequent environment concerns owing to green-house gas emissions in the atmosphere. An integrated biorefinery uses lignocellulosic feedstock as raw material for the production of renewable biofuels, and other fine chemicals. The sustain-able bio-economy and the biorefinery industry would benefit greatly from the effective use of lignocellulosic biomass obtained from agricultural feedstocks to replace petrochemical products. Lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and other extractives, which are essential components of ligno-cellulosic biomass, must be separated or upgraded into useful forms in order to fully realize the potential of biorefinery. The development of low-cost and green pretreatment technologies with effective biomass deconstruction potential is imperative for an efficient bioprocess. The abun-dance of microorganisms along with their continuous production of various degradative en-zymes makes them suited for the environmentally friendly bioconversion of agro-industrial wastes into viable bioproducts. The present review highlights the concept of biorefinery, ligno-cellulosic biomass and its valorization by green pretreatment strategies into biofuels and other biochemicals. The major barriers and challenges in bioconversion technologies, environmental sustainability of the bioproducts and promising solutions to alleviate those bottlenecks are also summarized.

People are increasingly encouraged to reduce animal food consumption and shift towards plant-based diets, however the implications for children’s health are unclear. In this narrative review of research in high-income settings, we summarize evidence on the increasing consump-tion of plant-based diets in children, and update an earlier systematic review regarding their associations with children’s health outcomes. The evidence indicates that vegan but not vege-tarian diets can restrict growth relative to omnivorous children, and increase the risk of being stunted and underweight although the percentage affected is relatively small. Bone mineral content is reduced in vegetarian and especially vegan children, compared to omnivores. Both vegetarian and vegan children who do not use vitamin B12 supplements manifest with B12 defi-ciency, however supplementation rectifies this problem. Both vegetarians and vegans have lower concentrations of 25 (OH)D if unsupplemented, and lower body iron stores, but usually have normal iron metabolism markers. Both groups are at risk of iodine deficiency and this might affect thyroid health. Children consuming a vegan diet have more favorable lipid profile than omniv-orous children, however the results for vegetarian diet are inconsistent and vary by outcome. Based on the same scientific evidence, national and international dietary recommendations are heterogeneous, with some countries supporting plant-based diets among infants, children and adolescents, and others discouraging them. We offer a research roadmap, highlighting what is needed to provide adequate evidence to harmonize dietary recommendations for plant-based diets in children. A number of measures should urgently be introduced at international and na-tional levels to improve the safety of their use in children.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common malignant tumor of the pancreas, carrying a poor prognosis, in most cases patients being diagnosed in a nonresectable stage. Image-based artificial intelligence (AI) models implemented in tumor detection, segmentation and classification could improve diagnosis with better treatment options and increased survival. This review included papers published in the last 5 years and describes the current trends in AI algorithms used in PDAC. We analyzed the applications of AI in detection of PDAC, segmentation of the lesion and classification algorithms used in differential diagnosis, prognosis, and histopathological and genomic prediction. The results show lack of multi-institutional collaboration and stresses the need for bigger datasets in order for AI models to be implemented in a clinically relevant manner.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is characterized by the development of β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain parenchyma, can result in synaptic and neuronal loss. Clinical signs, including deteriorating memory deficiency, may lead to catastrophic effects for the elderly. Research on brain imaging and its application in the study of AD has advanced extraordinarily over the past 30 years. However, widely used imaging methods are only capable of identifying structural or metabolic alterations at the anatomical level in the brain and can only be utilized for drawing inferential distinctions. As a disease with a complex pathophysiological mechanism, AD has many different molecular pathological features and molecular biomarkers. Therefore, molecular imaging for AD pathology indicators provides a practical method for the early diagnosis and impartial assessment of AD. The present review discusses the pathogenesis of AD, as well as the detection methods and principles of molecular imaging, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) techniques. Meanwhile, various tracers and probes applied in molecular imaging that detect Aβ deposits, tau protein accumulation, and neurotransmitters are also reviewed. Molecular pathological tracers provide the possibility to accurately quantify brain changes through molecular imaging.

Breast cancer is a global health concern, necessitating continuous advancements in diagnostic medical imaging technologies for early detection and improvement of treatment. This paper presents an overview of the past, present and future of breast cancer imaging using light and some results from the current studies. The paper specifically presents the role of Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) in breast cancer imaging. Conventional methods, such as X-ray mammography, face limitations. Diffuse Optical Tomography, a non-invasive light-based imaging modality can provide quantitative descriptive and architectural information about breast tissue. The paper discusses the key challenges and recent developments in breast cancer imaging using DOT to overcome some key challenges. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the evolving technological landscape in breast cancer imaging using light for improving early detection and patient outcomes.

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is the second most common type of hematological disease and, although it is rare among patients under 40 years of age, its incidence rises in elderly subject. MM manifestations are usually known with the abbreviation CRAB (hyperCalcemia, Renal failure, Anaemia, and lytic Bone lesions). In particular, the extent of the bone disease is negatively related to a decreased patients’ quality of life and, in general, bone disease in MM increases both morbidity and mortality. The detection of lytic bone lesions on imaging, especially CT and MRI, is becoming crucial from the clinical viewpoint to separate asymptomatic from symptomatic MM patients and the detection of focal lytic lesion in these imaging data is becoming relevant even when no clinical symptoms are present. Therefore, radiology is pivotal in the staging and accurate management of patients with MM even in early phases of the disease. In this review we describe the opportunities offered by quantitative imaging and radiomics in multiple myeloma. At present time there is still high variability in the choice between various imaging methods to study MM patients and high variability in image interpretation with suboptimal agreement among readers even in tertiary centres. Therefore, the potential of medical imaging for patients affected by MM is still to be completely unveiled. In the next years, new insights to study MM with medical imaging will derive from artificial intelligence (AI) and radiomics usage in different bone lesions and from the wide implementations of quantitative methods to report CT and MRI. Eventually, medical imaging data can be integrated with the patient's outcomes with the purpose to find radiological biomarkers for predicting the disease prognostic flow and its therapeutic response.

An increase in Spodoptera species was reported in Bt soybean fields expressing Cry1Ac insecticidal proteins in Brazil, requiring additional management with chemical insecticides. Here, we evaluated the dose effects of flubendiamide and thiodicarb on Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker, 1858), Spodoptera eridania (Stoll, 1782), Spodoptera albula (Walker, 1857) and Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith, 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) that survived on MON 87751 × MON 87708 × MON 87701 × MON 89788, expressing Cry1A.105, Cry2Ab2 and Cry1Ac; MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybean, expressing Cry1Ac; and non-Bt soybean. On unsprayed Cry1A.105/Cry2Ab2/Cry1Ac soybean, only S. frugiperda showed ~60% mortality after 10 d, whereas S. cosmioides, S. eridania and S. albula showed >81% mortality. Surviving larvae of all species on this Bt soybean showed &gt;80% mortality when exposed to the field label dose of flubendiamide (70 mL/ha) or thiodicarb (400 g/ha) or at 50% of these doses. In contrast, all four species had <25% and <19% mortality on Cry1Ac and non-Bt soybean, respectively. Surviving S. cosmioides, S. eridania and S. albula on these soybean types presented >83% mortality post-exposure to both dose levels of flubendiamide and thiodicarb. Some S. frugiperda larvae surviving on Cry1Ac and non-Bt soybean sprayed with a 50% dose of either insecticide developed into adults. However, L1 larvae developing on Cry1Ac soybean leaves sprayed with flubendiamide and L2 larvae on this soybean sprayed with thiodicarb had a prolonged immature stage, and females lower fecundity, which are likely to impact its population growth on soybean.

Background: The modified Duke index derived from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) was designed to predict cardiovascular outcomes based on the severity of coronary ste-nosis. However, it does not take into consideration the presence or severity of peri-coronary in-flammation. The peri-coronary fat attenuation index (FAI) is a novel imaging marker determined by CCTA which reflects the degree of inflammation in the coronary tree in patients with coronary artery disease. Purpose: To assess the association between the modified Duke index assessed by CCTA, cardiovascular risk factors and peri-coronary inflammation in the coronary arteries of pa-tients with coronary artery disease. Methods: One hundred seventy-two patients who underwent CCTA for typical angina were assigned into two groups based on the modified Duke index: group 1 – patients with low index ≤ 3 (n=107) and group 2 – patients with high index > 3 (n=65). Demo-graphic, clinical and CCTA data were collected for all patients, and FAI analysis of coronary in-flammation was performed. Results: Patients with increased values of the modified Duke index were significantly older compared to those with a low index (61.83 ± 9.89 vs. 64.78 ± 8.9; p = 0.002). No differences were found between the two groups in terms of gender distribution, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia or smoking history (all p > 0.5). The FAI score was significantly higher in patients from group 2, who presented a significantly higher score of inflammation compared to the patients in group 1, especially at the level of the right coronary artery (FAI score 20.85 ± 15.80 vs. 14.61 ± 16.66; p = 0.01 for the right coronary artery, 13.85 ± 8.04 vs. 10.91 ± 6.5; p = 0.01 for the circumflex artery, and 13.26 ±10.18 vs. 11.37 ± 8.84; p = 0.2 for the left anterior descending artery). CaRi-Heart® analysis identified a significantly higher risk of future events among patients with a high modified Duke index (34.84 % ± 25.86 % versus 16.87 % ± 15.80 %; p

Flotation of small particles is one of the global challenges facing the mineral raw materials processing industry. Large amounts of non-ferrous and rare metals are lost in the flotation tailings in the form of mineral particles below 15 µm in size as a result of the low effectiveness of their capture by coarse bubbles generated in conventional flotation machines. The method of combined microflotation, which is being developed in recent years, uses not only coarse but also microbubbles (MB) produced in the stand-alone generator of air-in-water microdispersion, which serves as the flotation carriers. Depending on the dose of MB, the effect of their application may be both positive, but also negative. The theoretical analysis of various mechanisms of particle transfer onto the surface of coarse bubbles and further into the froth layer allowed to obtain the formula for the optimal MB dose f=2dddpρp, where dd is MB size; dp and ρp respectively are the size and the density of particles. Experiments performed on the copper ore flotation tailings at the Atalaya Mining (Spain) and Chaarat Kapan (Armenia) concentrators showed that, besides the optimal MB dose in the range of 1-3 ml/g, there is another optimal MB dose in the range of 10-20 ml/g, where the copper recovery increases by several percent compared to the reference test (f= 0). In the area between the optimal MB doses, the deep minimum in copper recovery is observed, which value is by several percent lower compared to the value in the reference test.

The present study aimed to examine the stereoselective pharmacokinetics of racemic ketamine in dogs at low dose. Secondary aims were to identify associated behavioural side effects and propose a ketamine infusion rate. The study was conducted on nine intact male beagles, with each dog undergoing two treatments (BOL and INF). For treatment BOL, a single intravenous bolus of 1 mg/kg racemic ketamine was administered over 2 minutes. The treatment INF involved an initial bolus of 0.5 mg/kg given over 1 minute, followed by an infusion at 0.01 mg/kg/min for 1 hour. Blood samples were collected from the left cephalic vein for pharmacokinetic analysis. The median R/S enantiomer ratio of ketamine remained close to 1 throughout the study. However, levels of S-norketamine were significantly higher than those of R-norketamine across all time points. Based on the collected data, the infusion rate predicted to achieve a steady state racemic ketamine plasma concentration of 150 ng/mL was 1.7 mg/kg/h. Furthermore, employing ROC curve analysis, a racemic ketamine plasma concentration of 102 ng/mL was defined as the cut-off value, correlating with the occurrence of undesirable behavioural patterns.

The total ionizing dose (TID) effect significantly impacts the electrical parameters of fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) devices and even invalidates the on-off function of devices. At present, most of the irradiation research on the circuit level is focused on the single event effect, and the research on the total ionizing dose effect is very little. Therefore, this study mainly analyzes the influence of TID effects on a CMOS inverter circuit based on 22 nm FDSOI transistors. First, we constructed and calibrated an N-type FDSOI metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) structure and P-type FDSOI metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) structure. The transfer characteristics and trapped charge distribution of these devices were studied under different irradiation doses. Next, we studied the TID effect on an inverter circuit composed of these two MOS transistors. The simulation results show that when the radiation dose is 400 krad (Si), the logic threshold drift of the inverter is approximately 0.052 V. These results help further investigate the impact on integrated circuits in the irradiation environment.

Background: In Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) the injected current gets distributed across the brain areas. The motive is to stimulate the target region-of-interest (ROI), while minimizing the current in non-target ROIs. For this purpose, determining the appropriate current-dose for an individual is difficult. Aim: To introduce Dose-Target-Determination-Index (DTDI) to quantify the focality of tDCS and examine the dose-focality relationship in three different populations. Method: Here, we extended our previous toolbox i-SATA to the MNI reference space. After a tDCS montage is simulated for a current-dose, the i-SATA(MNI) computes the average (over voxels) current density for every region in the brain. DTDI is the ratio of average current density at target ROI to the ROI with maximum value (peak region). Ideally target ROI should be the peak region, so DTDI shall range from 0 to 1. Higher the value, the better the dose. We estimated the variation of DTDI within and across individuals using T1-weighted brain images of 45 males and females distributed equally across three age groups- (a) Young adults (20 ≥ x ˂ 40 years), (b) Mid adults (40 ≥ x ˂ 60 years), and (c) Older adults (60 ≥ x ˂ 80 years). DTDI’s were evaluated for the frontal montage with electrodes at F3 and right supra-orbital for three current doses 1mA, 2mA, and 3mA with the target ROI at left middle frontal gyrus. Result: As the dose is incremented, DTDI may show (a) increase, (b) decrease, and (c) no change across the individuals. The focality decreases with age and the decline is stronger in males. Higher current dose at older age can enhance the focality of stimulation. Conclusion: DTDI provides information on which tDCS current dose will optimize the focality of stimulation. DTDI recommended dose should be prioritised based on the age (> 40 years) and sex (especially males) of an individual. The toolbox i-SATA(MNI) is freely available.

Synergy of radiation and immune system is currently receiving significant attention in oncology as numerous studies have shown that cancer irradiation can induce strong antitumor immune responses. It remains unclear, however, what are the best radiation fractionation protocols to maximize the therapeutic benefits of this synergy. Here, we present a novel mathematical model that can be used to predict and dissect the complexity of the immune-mediated response at multiple tumor sites after applying focal irradiation and systemic immunotherapy. We successfully calibrate the proposed framework with published experimental data, in which two tumors were grown in mice at two spatially separated sites from which only one was irradiated using various radiation fractionation protocols with and without concurrent systemic immunotherapy. The proposed model is calibrated to fit the temporal dynamics of tumor volume at both sites and can predict changes in immune infiltration in the non-irradiated tumors. The model was then used to investigate additional radiation fractionation protocols. Model simulations suggest that the optimal radiation doses per fraction to maximize antitumor immunity are between 10-13 Gy, at least for the experimental setting used for model calibration. This work provides the framework for evaluating radiation fractionation protocols for radiation-induced immune-mediated systemic antitumor responses.

This study's main target was to analyze and design rectangular edges supported two ways solid slabs by using ES EN 1992-1-1:2015. Slab design is often carried out either manually or with the use of design and analytic software. The researcher sees that some software cannot accept some countries' standard codes. For example, currently in Ethiopia analysis and design of two-way solid slab is done using readily available Excel sheet template. But working with this might have many problems, firstly the structure that is already analyzed by SAP or SAFE or any other international software application that uses international codes but which cannot design structure using ES EN 1992; for instant euro codes and designed by excel sheet can create failure and uneconomical analysis and design result. In this paper, the slab is designed and analyzed based on the chosen concrete grade, chosen reinforcement bar diameter, chosen steel grade for design and analysis of slabs calculations like load, moment, shear, and deflection checking using the moment coefficient method for analysis and design and Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 for coding. All input values are given by the International Standard units and are also used to represent output values. Using manual calculations delays time and mostly the result is not correct. But using this Computer program can increase computation accuracy and save time. The procedure the researcher followed is, first the manual calculation has been done and then SADSE2021 has been done. The result is that both are 99.9% identical, and the disadvantage of this method is that it cannot be used to determine the detailed drawing.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most prevalent primary malignant brain tumor in adults, exhibits a dismal 6.9% five-year survival rate post-diagnosis. Thymoquinone (TQ), the most abundant bioactive compound in Nigella Sativa, has been extensively researched for its anti-cancer properties across various human cancers. Yet, its specific anticancer mechanisms and pathways in glioblastoma remain to be elucidated. In this study, we assessed the impact of different TQ concentrations on the viability of A172 cells using WST-8 and Toluidine blue assays, followed by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). We confirmed their expression levels through quantitative RT-PCR and performed Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses for these DEGs. RNA-seq revealed no significant gene expression changes at 2.5 µM and 5 µM TQ concentrations. However, at 25 µM and 50 µM, TQ significantly reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. We identified 1548 DEGs at 25 µM TQ (684 upregulated, 864 downregulated) and 2797 DEGs at 50 µM TQ (1528 upregulated, 1269 downregulated), with 1202 DEGs common to both concentrations. TQ inhibited key pathways such as PI3K-Akt signaling, calcium signaling, focal adhesion, and ECM-receptor interaction in A172 cells. It downregulated several potential oncogenes (e.g., AEBP1, MIAT) and genes linked to GBM proliferation and migration (e.g., SOCS2, HCP5), while modulating Wnt signaling and upregulating tumor suppressor genes (e.g., SPRY4, BEX2). TQ also affected p53 downstream targets, maintaining p53 levels. This study elucidates the anticancer mechanisms of TQ in A172 GBM cells, underscoring its effects on multiple signaling pathways and positioning TQ as a promising candidate for innovative glioblastoma treatment strategies.

After 2010, the source model of the microSelectron HDR Afterloader System was slightly modified from the previous model. Granero et al. named the modified source model “mHDR-v2r (revised model mHDR-v2)” and the previous model “mHDR-v2”. They concluded that the dosimetric differences arising from the dimensional changes between the mHDR-v2 and mHDR-v2r designs were negligible at almost all locations (within 0.5 % for r ≥ 0.25 cm), the two-dimensional anisotropy function difference between the two sources is found 2.1 % at r = 1.0 cm when compared with the results of the other experimental group. To confirm this difference, we performed a full Monte Carlo simulation without the energy fluence approximation. This is useful near the radiation source where charged-particle equilibrium does not hold. The two-dimensional anisotropy function of the TG-43U1 dataset showed a few percent difference between the mHDR-v2r and mHDR-v2 sources. There was no agreement in the immediate vicinity from the source (0.10 cm and 0.25 cm), when compared to Granero et al. in mHDR-v2r sources. The differences in these two-dimensional anisotropy functions were identified.

The effects of tyrosine on plasma response and cognition in aging are unknown. We assessed the dose-dependent response to tyrosine administration in older adults in both plasma tyrosine concentrations and working memory performance. In this double blind randomized cross-over trial 17 older adults (aged 60-75 years) received a single administration of 100, 150 or 200 mg/kg body weight of tyrosine. For comparison, 17 young adults (aged 18-35 years) received a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight of tyrosine. Tyrosine plasma concentrations were determined before and 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 minutes after tyrosine intake. Working memory was assessed using the N-back task at 90 minutes after tyrosine administration. Older adults showed a dose-dependent increase in plasma tyrosine concentrations (p<.001), and the plasma response was higher than for young adults with the same dose (p<.001). Load-dependent working memory performance decreased with higher doses of tyrosine (p=.048), especially in older adults with greater dose-dependent plasma tyrosine responses (p=.035). Our results show an age-related increase in plasma tyrosine response, which was associated with a dose-dependent decline in cognitive functioning in older adults.

Understanding the subtle signs of carpal instability and other unique injury patterns in the wrist is a critical skill for radiologists. Proper patient management and outcomes are directly dependent on the accurate interpretation of wrist imaging studies. This review will provide a detailed overview of typical imaging features of carpal trauma and instability, management, and complications, using multimodality imaging and original medical illustrations. A detailed overview of the osseous, ligamentous, arterial anatomy of the wrist, arcs of Gilula, and zones of vulnerability will be provided. Carpal fractures, dislocations, special radiographic views, and imaging pearls will be discussed. Instability patterns and the myriad of associate abbreviations (CID, CIND, CIC, CIA, VISI, DISI, SLD, LTD, MCI, SLAC, SNAC) will be clarified. Expected outcomes, potential complications, and management will be reviewed.

The physiological process of iodine uptake in the thyroid is used for 131I treatment of thyroid diseases. Children are more sensitive to radiation compared to adults and may react differently to 131I exposure. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects on thyroid protein expression in young and adult rats one year after 131I injection, and identify potential biomarkers related to 131I exposure, absorbed dose, and age. Twelve Sprague Dawley Rats (young and adults) were i.v. injected with 50 kBq or 500 kBq 131I and were killed twelve months later. Twelve untreated rats were used as age-matched controls. Quantitative proteomics, statistical analysis and evaluation of biological effects was performed. The effects of irradiation were most prominent in young rats. Protein biomarker candidates were proposed related to age, absorbed dose, thyroid function and cancer and a panel was proposed for 131I exposure. In conclusion, the proteome of rat thyroid was differentially regulated twelve months after low-intermediate dose exposure to 131I in both young and adult rats. Several biomarker candidates are proposed for 131I exposure, age, and many of them are known to be related to thyroid function or thyroid cancer. Further research on human samples are needed for validation.

Manufacturing of facial epithesis is a complex technological process including several traditional stages of production, accompanied by aggravated psycho-emotional status of the patient. One of the main factors causing discomfort in patients with facial defects is the process of obtaining silicone impressions from the wound surface and the long waiting period for the final epithesis. Active development of digital technologies in medicine and dentistry helps specialists not only to automate most of the traditional stages of manufacturing of dento-mandibular and facial prostheses, but also improves the quality of life of patients by increasing the efficiency of services and reducing the production time of prosthetic structures. The application of digital technologies in the production of facial epithesis was difficult due to the lack of specialized 3D-software for modeling and material for further additive manufacturing of structures. The authors developed a unique technology for 3D modeling and additive manufacturing of facial epithesis, including a 3D CAD module and material for 3D printing. The primary objective was to fabricate immediate facial prostheses in the postoperative period in the shortest possible time until the final epithesis was fabricated.

This paper aims to implement histogram pyramids with marching cubes method for 3D medical volumetric rendering. The histogram pyramids are used for feature extraction by segmenting the image into the hierarchical order like the pyramid shape. The histogram pyramids can decrease the number of sparse matrixes that will occur during voxel manipulation. The important feature of the histogram pyramids is the direction of segments in the image. This feature will be then used for connecting pixels (2D) to form up voxel (3D) during marching cubes implementation. The proposed method is fast and easy to implement and it also produces a smooth result (compared to the traditional marching cubes technique). The experimental results show that time consuming for generating 3D model can be reduced by 15.59% in average. The paper also shows the comparison between the surface rendering using the traditional marching cubes and the marching cubes with histogram pyramids. Therefore, for the volumetric rendering such as 3D medical models and terrains where a large number of lookups in 3D grids are performed, this method is a particularly good choice for generating the smooth surface of 3D object.

Polystyrene as a thin film on arbitrary substrates or pellets form defective graphene films or powders that can be dispersed in water and organic solvents. The materials were characterized by visible absorption, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron and atomic force microscopy and electrochemistry. Raman spectra of these materials show the presence of the expected 2D, G and D peaks at 2750, 1590 and 1350 cm^-1, respectively. The relative intensity of the G vs. the D peak is taken as a quantitative indicator of the density of defects in the G layer.

In the contemporary world of science, continuous observation of specific fixed regions is required, awaiting the emergence of targets or phenomena within those areas to locate and identify them. Astronomy requires continuous monitoring of stars, swiftly pinpointing occurrences, such as flares, and acquiring their spectral data to aid identification. In military contexts, continuous observation of specific areas is essential for promptly locating enemy movements and obtaining target spectral data for deciphering enemy disguises. Additionally, continuous observation of experimental samples in biochemistry is mandatory to pinpoint localized changes and acquire spectral data from those areas. Hence, this paper develops a novel imaging spectrometer solution to monitor localized regions continuously. Specifically, this paper first elaborates on the developed instrument’s characteristics and optical structure, followed by optical design software simulations. The instrument has an F-number of 5, a focal length of 100mm, and a field of view covering the wavelength range from 400nm to 600nm. The optical path diagram indicates that the system’s dispersion and imaging images can be separated, meeting the system’s requirements. Besides, the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) graph confirms that the image quality meets the requirements. Furthermore, a region-monitoring type imaging spectrometer was constructed to assess the instrument’s capability for spectral observation of fixed regions. The instrument can detect a fixed area, with the target placed within the detection area. Spectral data were successfully obtained by conducting image processing on the acquired images. The correlation coefficient between this data and reference data was as high as 0.9226, indicating the instrument’s successful measurement of the target’s spectrum. Thus, the developed instrument demonstrated that it can image the observed areas and acquire spectral data from targets within those regions.

Photon-counting Computed Tomography (PCCT) is a promising cardiovascular-imaging technique. Using detectors that count the number and energy of photons in multiple bins, PCCT offers several advantages over conventional CT, including a higher image quality, reduced contrast agent volume, radiation doses, and artifacts. Although PCCT is well established for cardiac imaging in assessing coronary artery disease, its application in vascular imaging remains limited. This review summarizes the available literature and provides an overview of the current use of PCCT for the diagnosis of vascular conditions. Of the 13 records selected in the initial search, 7 articles were included in the present review: 6 cohort studies and 1 case report. This review synthesized the available literature on PCCT in vascular imaging, focusing mainly on endoleaks detection and characterization after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), contrast dose volume, and radiation exposure reduction, particularly in patients with chronic kidney disease and in those requiring follow-up CT.

Infectious keratitis (IK) is among the top 5 leading causes of blindness globally. Early diagnosis is key to guide an appropriate therapy to avoid complications such as vision impairment and blindness. Culture of corneal scrapes is the initial diagnostic test to grow and identify the causal organism. Alternative diagnostic tools include imaging such as with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). OCT’s advantage is its ability to accurately determine the depth and extent of the corneal ulceration, infiltrates and haze; therefore, characterizing the severity and progression of the infection. However, it is not a preferred choice in the diagnostic tool package for infectious keratitis. IVCM is a great aid in the diagnosis of fungal and Acanthamoeba keratitis with overall sensitivities of 66-74% and 80-100%, and specificity of 78-100% and 84-100%, respectively. Recently the use of deep learning (DL) models in IK has been shown to aid diagnosis via image recognition. Most of the studies that have developed DL models to diagnose the different types of IK have utilised photographs from digital camaras, slit-lamp images, or IVCM images. Some studies have used extremely efficient single DL algorithms to train their models and others used ensemble approaches. This technology is likely to assist in the diagnosis of IK in some years. Further work is needed to examine and validate the clinical performance of the DL models in the real-world setting and to evaluate whether this technology improves patient clinical outcomes. The scope of this review was to provide a recent update on the diagnostic imaging tools in IK

The purpose of this study was to describe ocular surface and anterior eye segment findings in various types of ichthyoses. Methods: This was a single-center prospective observational study. The study group consisted of five patients (P1-P5) aged 13–66 years. Multimodal imaging was performed, including slit-lamp examination, swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). Results: All patients were diagnosed with moderate to severe dry eye disease (DED). Corneas showed a significant pattern of irregularity, with a significant difference between the corneal thickness at the apex (CAT) and corneal thinnest thickness (CTT), ranging from 5 to 375 µm. Three patients were diagnosed with ectasia patterns based on SS-OCT. All patients showed abnormalities in at least one Fourier index parameter for at least one eye at 3 or 6 mm, on keratometric, anterior, or posterior analyses. IVCM examination revealed changes in all corneal layers. Conclusions: By combining the results of multimodal im-aging, we were able to detect preclinical abnormalities, distinguish characteristic changes com-mon to ichthyosis, and reveal the depth and characteristics of corneal abnormalities. Therefore, patients with ichthyosis should be examined for DED and ectatic disorders early in clinical prac-tice.

Background: Pulmonary sequestration (PS), generally diagnosed using computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA), is a rare congenital developmental malformation of the lung that is characterized by nonfunctional lung tissue independent of the normal lung tissue. This study summarizes the imaging features of the supplying arteries and draining vessels in patients with PS with an aim to assist with timely clinical diagnosis and operation guidance. Materials and Methods: A total of 55 patients with PS diagnosed on CTPA from multiple clinical centers were retrospectively analyzed. Data included demographic characteristics, imaging features, disease location, isolation type, and the features of supplying and draining vessels, as shown on CTPA images. Results: Of the 55 patients reviewed, 3 (5.45%) were children, 3 (5.45%) were adolescents, and 49 (89.09%) were adults, with a mean age of 44 years. Fifty-four (98.18%) patients had intralobar sequestration and one (1.82%) had extralobar sequestration. PS was noted 3.5 times more frequently in the left lower lobe than in the right lower lobe. For the supplying arteries, 47 (85.45%) were derived from the descending thoracic aorta, 1 (1.82%) from the abdominal aorta, 7 (12.73%) from the celiac axis, and 1 (1.82%) from the bronchial artery. The draining vessels were the pulmonary veins in 49 patients (89.09%), the umbilical vein in 1 (1.82%), the venae intercostal in 1 (1.82%), the pulmonary arteries in 11 (20.00%), and not shown on the images in 2 (3.64%). Conclusion: Clinical presentations of PS are non-specific and can be easily missed or misdiagnosed. However, CTPA can help improve the diagnostic accuracy and identify the supplying arteries and draining vessels, which significantly contribute to surgical planning.

In the context of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), total kidney volume (TKV) plays a key role as biomarker of disease progression and response to therapy and has been recently recognized as enrichment biomarker and possible surrogate endpoint. Several imaging modalities and methods are available to calculate TKV, and the choice depends on the purpose of use. Technological advancements have made it possible to accurately assess cyst burden, that can be crucial to assess the disease state and help identifying rapid progressors. Moreover, the development of automated algorithms has increased the efficiency of total kidney and cyst volume measurements. Beyond total kidney and cyst volume, the quantification and characterization of non-cystic kidney tissue show potential to early stratify ADPKD patients, monitor disease progression, and possibly predict renal function loss. A broad spectrum of kid-ney MRI techniques are available to characterize kidney tissue, showing promise to non-invasively pick up early signs of ADPKD progression. Radiomics has been used to extract tex-tural features from ADPKD images, providing valuable information about the heterogeneity of the cystic and non-cystic components. This review provides an overview of ADPKD imaging bi-omarkers, focusing on quantification methods, potential, and necessary steps towards successful translation to clinical practice.